Luis Durnwalder (born 23 September 1941) is an Italian politician, former governor of the autonomous province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

from 1989 until 2014, and former president and vice-president of

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol ( ; ; ), often known in English as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its shorter Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige, is an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy, located in the ...

, in

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

Biography

Durnwalder was born in

Pfalzen Pfalzen (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of Bolzano. Geography As of July 2023, it had a population of 3,106 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Itali ...

. After attending school in Pfalzen and

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

, he originally planned to enter an Augustinian choir at the Neustift

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in Brixen; however, Durnwalder decided instead to study agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, additionally he attended lectures in law. During this time he began his political activity and became chairman of the student group ''Südtiroler Hochschülerschaft'' (until 1965). In 1969, he became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of his home municipality and in 1973 delegate to the provincial assembly; he was Regional Counsellor for the Land Register from 1973 to 1978. At that time he also worked as director of the farmers' association, '' Südtiroler Bauernbund'', and moved to

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

, where he lives today. After the 1978 elections, he was elected member of the regional government. From 1989 until 2014 he presided over the provincial government as governor (''

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

''). Durnwalder is a member of the

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (, SVP) is a regionalism (politics), regionalist and mostly Christian democracy, Christian-democratic list of political parties in South Tyrol, political party in South Tyrol, an Autonomous administrative divisio ...

. He is Knight of Honor of the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

.Homepage of the St. Georgs Orden
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References

External links

Biography on the homepage of the government of South Tyrol
1941 births Living people People from Pfalzen Members of the Regional Council of Trentino-Alto Adige Presidents of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Governors of South Tyrol Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Germanophone Italian people South Tyrolean People's Party politicians Members of the Landtag of South Tyrol University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna alumni Mayors of places in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol {{TrentinoAltoAdige-politician-stub