Guglielmo Epifani (24 March 1950 – 7 June 2021) was an Italian

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and politician. From 2002 to 2010, he was the General Secretary of the

Italian General Confederation of Labour The Italian General Confederation of Labour (, , CGIL ) is a national trade union centre in Italy. It was formed by an agreement between socialists, communists, and Christian democrats in the "Pact of Rome" of June 1944. In 1950, socialists and ...

(CGIL), which was the biggest trade union in Europe. On 11 May 2013, Epifani was appointed

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Democratic Party (PD).

Biography

Epifani was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1950. In 1953 the family moved to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and then returned to Rome, in the Talenti neighbourhood, where Epifani finished secondary school 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 ...

, obtaining a classical education diploma in 1969. In 1973 he graduated from the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

in Philosophy with a thesis on Anna Kuliscioff and subsequently enrolled in the CGIL, where he worked as a trade unionist. In 1974 he directed the publishing house of the Confederation, the ''Esi'', significantly increasing its personal prestige within the confederation: within two years he landed at the Office of Auditors, where he coordinated the contractual policies of the categories, and then all Industry Bureau of the Confederacy. Epifani was a member of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI). In 1979 he began his career as a union leader with the post of Secretary-General of the category of Printing and paper manufacturers. In 1990 he joined the confederate and in 1993 was appointed Deputy Secretary-General by Bruno Trentin. He was writing before the Italian Socialist Party and, after the end of the PSI, the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left (, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger ...

. Following the termination of the mandate of Sergio Cofferati, Deputy of the union from 1994 to 2002, Epifani became General Secretary of CGIL, the most important Italian trade union, the first Socialist to lead it since its reconstitution in 1944. On 16 October 2010 Guglielmo Epifani delivered his last speech as secretary of the CGIL in

Piazza San Giovanni Piazza San Giovanni is a city square in Florence, Italy. Buildings around the square *Florence Baptistery The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John (), is a religious building in Florence, Italy. Dedicated to the pat ...

in Rome, on the occasion of the event FIOM. On 3 November 2010, the leadership of the CGIL was handed over to Susanna Camusso first woman secretary of the CGIL. Subsequent to the 2013 Italian general election, Epifani was elected to 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 ...

as a candidate of the Democratic Party in the constituency list Campania I. On 11 May 2013, Epifani became Secretary of the party, with the mission of leading the party to the convention. He was the first former

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

to have led the PD. Epifani was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was Dissolution of parliament in Italy, dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of ...

, among the ranks of the Free and Equal list.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epifani, Guglielmo 1950 births 2021 deaths People from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs Democratic Party (Italy) politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians Democrats of the Left politicians Article One (political party) politicians Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy Sapienza University of Rome alumni