Jole Santelli (28 December 1968 – 15 October 2020) was an Italian politician. A member of

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

, she was the President of Calabria from 15 February 2020 until her death eight months later.

Biography

After graduating in Law at 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 ...

, Santelli became a lawyer. She later joined

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 ...

's centre-right party,

, and 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 ...

for the first time at the

2001 Italian general election The 2001 Italian general election was held in Italy on 13 May 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The election was won by the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi, defea ...

. From 2001 to 2006 Santelli was

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

at the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the Berlusconi II and the Berlusconi III cabinets. She was elected to the

again in the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and the 2013 general elections. From May to December 2013 Santelli was undersecretary at the Ministry of Labour in the Letta Cabinet, until

withdrew its support from the government. Since 2013 Santelli has been the regional coordinator of

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

and has been deputy mayor of

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

from 2016 to 2019. In the 2018 general elections Santelli was elected one more time to the

. In December 2019 she became the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

candidate for President of Calabria at the 2020 Calabrian regional election, which she won with around 55% of votes.

Death

On 15 October 2020, Santelli was found dead at her home, aged 51, after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal haemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body, and is not usually visible from the outside. It can be a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depends on b ...

. She had also suffered from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

References

External links

*Files about her parliamentary activities (in Italian)
XIV

XVXVIXVIIXVIII
legislature. {{DEFAULTSORT:Santelli, Jole 1968 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Italian lawyers 20th-century Italian women politicians 20th-century Italian women lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian women politicians Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy Forza Italia (2013) politicians Forza Italia politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians 21st-century Italian women lawyers People from Cosenza Presidents of Calabria Sapienza University of Rome alumni The People of Freedom politicians Deaths from bleeding Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)