Francesco Saverio Romano (born 24 December 1964) is an Italian politician and lawyer. He served as the minister of agricultures in 2011 and a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

between 2001 and 2018.

Early life and education

Romano was born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on 24 December 1964. He holds a law degree, which he received from the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

in 1988. He was a board member of the Opera Universitaria. He joined

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

(DC) when he was a university student.

Career

Romano became a member of the provincial council of Palermo in 1990. From 1993 to 1994, he served as the

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for viability. After the dissolution of the DC in 1994, he joined the Italian People's Party (PPI), which he left in 1995 for the

United Christian Democrats The United Christian Democrats (, CDU) was a minor Christian democratic political party in Italy. The CDU was a member of the European People's Party from 1995 until 2002. History The party was started in 1995 by splinters of the Italian People ...

(CDU). From 1997 to 2001, he was the president of IRCAC, a credit institution in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He was elected to the

from the

Bagheria Bagheria (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sicilian ''Baarìa'') or ...

constituency in 2001. In 2002, he left the CDU to join the Union of the Centre (UdC). He was the secretary of state for labour in the

third Berlusconi government The third Berlusconi government was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 23 April 2005 to 17 May 2006. It was the 58th cabinet of the Italian Republic, and the second cabinet of the XIV Legislature. Formation House of Freedoms did not do ...

. He was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2008. Romano left the UdC in September 2010. In 2010, Romano became the leader of

The Populars of Italy Tomorrow The Populars of Italy Tomorrow (''I Popolari di Italia Domani'', PID) was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy whose power base was in Sicily. It is currently affiliated with Forza Italia. PID was launched on 28 September 2010 by five ...

, which was merged in 2012 with

Cantiere Popolare Cantiere Popolare (translatable into ''Popular Worksite'') is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy, based in Sicily. The party's leader is Francesco Saverio Romano, a former Sicilian leader of the Union of the Centre and, later, min ...

(CP). On 23 March 2011, Romano was appointed agriculture minister to the

fourth Berlusconi government The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th Cabinet (government), government of Politics of Italy, Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving ...

in a cabinet reshuffle. Romano replaced

Giancarlo Galan Giancarlo Galan (born 10 September 1956) is an Italian politician. Career Born in Padua, Galan was an activist of the Italian Liberal Party in the 1970s and the 1980s. He was not fully active in politics until he joined Forza Italia since its ...

in the post. He was sworn in as agriculture minister despite being under investigation due to allegations about

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

association and corruption. Romano's term ended on 16 November 2011 when he was replaced by

Mario Catania Mario Catania (born March 5, 1952) served as the Italian minister of agriculture under Prime Minister Mario Monti from November 2011 to April 28, 2013. Biography Mario Catania was born on March 5, 1952, in Rome. He was the head of department ...

as agriculture minister.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romano, Francesco Saverio 20th-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 1964 births Living people Politicians from Palermo University of Palermo alumni Ministers of agriculture of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Christian Democracy (Italy) politicians Italian People's Party (1994) politicians United Christian Democrats politicians The Populars of Italy Tomorrow politicians Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy