Giulia Bongiorno (born 22 March 1966) is an Italian lawyer and politician who served as the

Italian Minister of Public Administration The minister of public administration (Italian: ''ministro per la pubblica amministrazione'') in Italy is one of the positions in the Cabinet of Italy, Italian government. The current minister for public administration is Paolo Zangrillo, of F ...

from 1 June 2018 to 5 September 2019. A prominent criminal defense attorney, she has served in both houses of the Italian parliament: formerly 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 ...

from 2008 to 2013, she has served as a

Senator of the Italian Republic The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

since 15 March 2018.

Background

A native of

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. ...

, Bongiorno (a relative of

Mike Bongiorno Michael Nicholas Salvatore Bongiorno (; May 26, 1924 – September 8, 2009) was an American Italian television presenter. After a few experiences in the U.S., he started working on RAI in the 1950s and was considered to be the most popular host ...

, the television host) studied at a

Liceo classico The ''liceo classico'' or ''ginnasio'' () is the oldest public secondary education in Italy, secondary school type in Italy. Its educational curriculum spans over five years, when students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age. Until 196 ...

, before matriculating to 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 ...

, where she studied law.

Law career

As a lawyer, she first rose to fame with her defence of

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...

, the forty-first

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

, during his Mafia association trials. Bongiorno, then in her twenties, successfully defended the statesman in court over the next decade, through multiple appeals, finally culminating in a full acquittal before the

Supreme Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

in 2004. Her work in white-collar crime also brought her into contact with

Sergio Cragnotti Sergio Cragnotti (; born 9 January 1940, in Rome, Italy) is an Italian entrepreneur and sports executive. One of the most high-profile and wealthy business figures in Italy in recent times, Cragnotti is best known for having been president of L ...

, the former head of Italian food company

Cirio Cirio S.p.A. () is a major Italian food company, founded in 1856 in Turin. The company sponsored SSC Napoli in 1982–83 and 1984–85 season and SS Lazio from 1996 to 2000. History Founding and Early Success (1856–1867) Cirio was established ...

, whom she defended in a fraud case in 2008. She then went on to defend well-known clients, such as

Ezio Greggio Ezio Greggio (; born 7 April 1954) is an Italian comedian, actor, writer and film director. In Italy he is mostly known for his long-lasting appearances in TV shows like '' Drive In'' and '' Striscia la notizia'', while abroad he is noted for ...

Tiziano Ferro Tiziano Ferro (; born 21 February 1980) is an Italian pop singer and songwriter. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single " Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro has released ...

, and

Simone Pianigiani Simone Pianigiani (born 31 May 1969) is an Italian professional basketball coach. Coaching career Pro clubs Pianigiani was appointed the head coach of the Italian League club Montepaschi Siena before the 2006–07 season, and led his team to ...

, in tax-related criminal proceedings. Bongiorno was also involved in cases with

Clementina Forleo Maria Clementina Forleo (born 1963, in Francavilla Fontana, province of Brindisi) is an Italian preliminary judge (''Giudice per le indagini preliminari'', or ''GIP'' for short) at the Court of Milan. She came to national prominence after discov ...

and Niccolò Ghedini; as well as the acquittal of three

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

executives, including David Drummond and

George Reyes George Reyes is the former CFO of Google. He was formerly a director of BEA Systems, Symantec, and LifeLock. Reyes was the CFO of Google from 2003–2008, his announcement of retirement came in 2007. He became the CFO, Senior VP in 2006. Reyes re ...

of defamation, in a case involving a video showing students bullying a handicapped boy. Her defense of Raffaele Sollecito, a college student, in the murder trial of Meredith Kercher resulted in the acquittal of her client; the subsequent trials and acquittal of Sollecito's girlfriend,

Amanda Knox Amanda Marie Knox (born July 9, 1987) is an American author, activist, and journalist. She spent almost four years incarcerated in Italy after her wrongful conviction in the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a fellow exchange student, with w ...

, went on to become a

cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...

in the United States. In the wake of the

Costa Concordia disaster On 13 January 2012, the seven-year-old Costa Cruises vessel ''Costa Concordia'' was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when it deviated from its planned route at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany in order to perform a sail-by sa ...

, she represented passengers suing the cruise line. Bongiorno is also known for her work in sports law, representing clients ranging from fencer

Andrea Baldini Andrea Baldini (born 19 December 1985) is an Italian foil fencer, several time European and World champion and team Olympic champion in 2012. He is the only foil fencer in history to have obtained four golds (European and World - individual and ...

, to footballers Cristiano Doni and

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for AS Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He was a technically gifted and creati ...

Political career

First elected to the

in 2006 for the constituency of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, Bongiorno left the lower house in 2013, having been re-elected in the snap election of 2008. Originally a member of the

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

, upon its dissolution, she joined its successor,

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

, led by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

. After Berlusconi split with

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is a retired Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian ...

in July 2010, she left as well, joining Fini's new

Future and Freedom Future and Freedom (), whose full name was Future and Freedom for Italy (''Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia'', abbreviated to FLI), was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, comprising both liberal conservatism, liberal an ...

party, becoming a spokesperson for Future and Freedom, and protesting against Berlusconi's scandals. After the general election in 2018, where she was elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Sicily among the ranks of the

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, she was seen a possible candidate for prime minister.

Political positions

Bongiorno is a chief architect of the 2009 law criminalising

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

; she has also denounced

femicide Femicide or feminicide is the intentional murder of women or girls because of their gender.Shalva Weil, "Femicide Across Europe: Research and prevention of femicide across Europe". Research Gate, October 2018. In domestic fields, 50% percent o ...

. In 2014, Bongiorno proposed that

housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

should be paid for their work, in order to strengthen their economic independence and advance their social dignity. During her time in the lower house, Bongiorno shepherded a wiretapping bill through Parliament; the

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia () is the Italian language, Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on 10 May 2001, and first edited on 11 June 2001. As of , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is the -largest W ...

protested by shutting down for a time. After punitive amendments were added, she disowned the bill entirely, and it ultimately failed to pass. In 2017, she rejected another version of the bill, saying that it contained ambiguities of language and imposed a burden on judges.

Minister of Public Administration

On 1 June 2018, Bongiorno became the

. With the fall of the cabinet during the 2019 Italian government crisis, and the subsequent establishment of the

Conte II Cabinet The second Conte government was the 66th government of the Italian Republic and the second government led by Giuseppe Conte. The government was sworn in on 5 September 2019 to 13 February 2021. The government was supported by the anti-establis ...

, Bongiorno ceased to be minister in early September 2019.

Other work

Bongiorno and

Michelle Hunziker Michelle Yvonne Hunziker (, ; born 24 January 1977) is a Swiss and Italian television presenter and former model. She hosted the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel, Switzerland alongside Hazel Brugger and Sandra Studer. Early ...

established a nonprofit foundation in 2007, ''Doppia Difesa'' (Double Defense), to combat

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

, and abuse against women. The foundation has, among other activities, begun public awareness campaigns (including with

Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...

), participated in conferences, and has received awards. The effectiveness of the foundation's efforts have been questioned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongiorno, Giulia 1966 births 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian women politicians Conte I Cabinet Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Future and Freedom politicians 21st-century Italian women lawyers Lega Nord politicians Living people National Alliance (Italy) politicians Jurists from Palermo Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy The People of Freedom politicians University of Palermo alumni Women government ministers of Italy Politicians from Palermo 20th-century Italian women Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)