Gianni Alemanno 63rd Mayor of Rome Incumbent Assumed office  April 2008 Preceded by Walter Veltroni Minister of Agriculture In office June 11, 2001 – May 17, 2006 Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Preceded by Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio Succeeded by Paolo De Castro Born March 3, 1958 (1958-03-03) (age 53) Bari, Italy Nationality Italian Political party People of Freedom Spouse(s) Isabella Rauti Giovanni "Gianni" Alemanno (b. 3 March 1958 in Bari, Italy) is an Italian politician who is currently Mayor of Rome. He joined the Italian Social Movement, at a very early age and became national secretary of the youth organization of the party in 1988. After being elected regional deputy of Lazio in 1990, he was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1994 general election.

In 1995, along with Francesco Storace, he founded the Social Right, which was intended to be the more right-wing, socially-oriented and socially conservative faction within National Alliance, the new party in which the Italian Social Movement was merged after repudation of extremism. Between 2001 and 2006 Alemanno was Minister of Agriculture in Berlusconi II and III Cabinet. After having been heavily defeated by Walter Veltroni in the 2006 mayoral election of Rome, in April 2008 he defeated Francesco Rutelli and became Mayor of the city. Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right party, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads, who chanted "Duce! Duce!" and raised their arms in a fascist salute;1 then Alemanno said: «People calling me Duce makes me laugh. I’m not at all fascist and I think that today the word belongs to the history books. I’ve grown to hate all forms of totalitarianism, whether of the left or of the right».2

In August 2008 Alemanno caused a controversy when Romanian shepherds attacked a Dutch couple that had been camping outside of Rome. The couple was beaten and robbed and the woman was raped. Alemanno stated that the couple had been "very careless" by camping in an area "forgotten by God and man" where camping was illegal.3 Alemanno said that the attack was an isolated case, and repeated to want to crack down on crime, regaining total control of the territory. In November 2008, Alemanno decided to build a museum dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust inside a roman park. The leader of Rome's Jewish community, Riccardo Pacifici, praised the mayor for this project.4 Alemanno is the son-in-law of Pino Rauti, a former leader of the Italian Social Movement. He always wears a necklace with a celtic cross.5 He stated he wears it only as a religious symbol and because of a personal meaning for him, being a jewel worn by his friend Paolo di Nella, a far right militant that had been killed during the '70s Anni di Piombo.6

The approval of the Romans to the mayor Alemanno rose to 60% in January 2009.7 In February 2009 Alemanno conferred honorary citizenship to Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile.8 In July 2009, Alemanno conferred honorary citizenship to captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.9 References ^ Squires, Nick (2008-09-08). "Italian politicians 'praise' fascist era of Benito Mussolini". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/2706408/Italian-politicians-praise-fascist-era-of-Benito-Mussolini.html. Retrieved 2010-05-03. (English) ^ "The Right Takes Rome". http://norumbega.co.uk/2008/05/12/the-right-takes-rome/. (English) ^ Owen, Richard (2008-08-25). "Attack on pilgrim tourists reignites Italy's row over immigrants". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4602567.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-03. (English) ^ Il Messaggero. "Alemanno: il museo della Shoah sarà completato entro il 2011". http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=34886&sez=HOME_ROMA. (Italian) ^ "Alemanno mostra la croce celtica scontro in tv con Daria Bignardi". http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/croce-alemanno/croce-alemanno/croce-alemanno.html. (Italian) ^ "Alemanno: la mia croce celtica è solo un simbolo religioso". http://www.corriere.it/politica/08_aprile_20/alemanno_croce%20_celtica_1d42c05e-0ee9-11dd-b370-00144f486ba6.shtm. (Italian) ^ "Roma promuove Alemanno: gradimento al 60%". http://iltempo.ilsole24ore.com/interni_esteri/2009/01/09/974023-roma_promuove_alemanno_gradimento.shtml. (Italian) ^ "Dalai Lama made honorary citizen of Rome". http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25033523-401,00.html. dead link(English) ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jBpTZgdServOsBatthPCqBP5_e8A External links Website of Alemanno (Italian) CityMayors profile BBC Assignment programme Political offices Preceded by Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio Italian Minister of Agriculture 2001–2006 Succeeded by Paolo De Castro Preceded by Walter Veltroni Mayor of Rome 2008-present Succeeded by Incumbent

 Gianni Alemanno v · d · eMayors of Rome Giuseppe Lunati  · Filippo Doria Pamphili  · Giovanni Angelini  · Francesco Pallavicini  · Francesco Grispigni  · Pietro Venturi  · Luigi Pianciani  · Pietro Venturi  · Emanuele Ruspoli  · Augusto Armellini  · Luigi Pianciani  · Leopoldo Torlonia  · Alessandro Guccioli  · Augusto Armellini  · Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile  · Onorato Caetani  · Emanuele Ruspoli  · Enrico Gallupi  · Prospero Colonna  · Carlo Palomba  · Giovanni Cruciani Alibrandi  · Cesare Salvarezza  · Ernesto Nathan  · Fausto Aphel  · Prospero Colonna  · Adolfo Appolloni  · Luigi Riva  · Giovanni Valli  · Filippo Cremonesi  · Ludovico Spada Potenziani  · Francesco Boncompagni Ludovisi  · Giuseppe Bottai  · Piero Colonna  · Giancarlo Borghese  · Riccardo Motta  · Giovanni Orgera  · Roberto Bencivenga  · Andrea Doria Panphili  · Mario De Cesare  · Salvatore Robecchini  · Umberto Tupini  · Urbano Cioccetti  · Francesco Diana  · Glauco Della Porta  · Americo Petrucci  · Rinaldo Santini  · Clelio Darida  · Giovanni Starita  · Giulio Carlo Argan  · Luigi Petroselli  · Ugo Vetere  · Nicola Signorello  · Pietro Giubilo  · Angelo Barbato  · Franco Carraro  · Alessandro Voci  · Francesco Rutelli  · Walter Veltroni  · Gianni Alemanno v · d · eBerlusconi II Cabinet (2001–2005) Berlusconi | Fini | Follini | La Loggia | Pisanu | Scajola | Frattini | Mazzella | Baccini | Stanca | Tremaglia | Prestigiacomo | Buttiglione | Bossi | Calderoli | Giovanardi | Ruggiero | Castelli | Tremonti | Siniscalco | Marzano | Moratti | Maroni | Martino | Alemanno | Lunardi | Sirchia | Urbani | Gasparri | Matteoli  v · d · eBerlusconi III Cabinet (2005–2006) Berlusconi | Fini | Tremonti | La Loggia | Caldoro | Baccini | Stanca | Tremaglia | Prestigiacomo | La Malfa | Calderoli | Giovanardi | Miccichè | Pisanu | Castelli | Siniscalco | Scajola | Moratti | Maroni | Martino | Alemanno | Matteoli | Lunardi | Storace | Buttiglione | Landolfi  Persondata Name Alemanno, Gianni Alternative names Short description Mayor of Rome Date of birth 1958-03-03 Place of birth Bari, Italy Date of death Place of death