Piera Aiello (; born 2 July 1967) is an Italian police informant and politician known for her stand against

the Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central ...

. She 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 ...

. In 2019, she was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women.

Biography

Anti-mafia testimony

Aiello was born in

Partanna Partanna is a town and ''comune'' in province of Trapani, south-western Sicily, southern Italy. It is south-east of Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in I ...

, Sicily, in 1967. In 1985, whilst in her teens she was forced to marry the son of a mafia boss, Nicola Atria. Her father-in-law, Vito Atria was killed nine days after they married. She did not love her husband and took

the pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. It is the oral form of combined hormonal contra ...

to avoid giving birth to a child. Her husband found out and raped her. Her husband was killed in 1991 and she and her three-year-old daughter witnessed the killing. She decided to name her husband's killers, a decision supported by her sister-in-law

Rita Atria Rita Atria (; September 4, 1974 − July 26, 1992) was a witness and key collaborator in a major Sicilian Mafia, Mafia investigation in Sicily. She committed suicide in July 1992, a week after Cosa Nostra killed prosecutor Paolo Borsellino, with w ...

and antimafia magistrate

Paolo Borsellino Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of ...

. The judge was later killed in the

Via D'Amelio bombing The via D'Amelio bombing () was a terrorist attack by the Sicilian Mafia, which took place in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, on 19 July 1992. It killed Paolo Borsellino, the anti-Mafia Italian magistrate, and five members of his police escort: Agostino ...

on 19 July 1992, less than two months after his colleague

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

had been killed. Aiello felt abandoned by her sister and her magistrate and she took on another identity to protect herself and her family from the mafia's retribution. The evidence given by

and Piera, together with other testimony, led to the arrest of various Mafia membersLongrigg, Clare. "Where talking is met with deadly silence", ''The Independent'', 21 September 1992. and to an enquiry into the politician Vincenzo Culicchia, who had been mayor of Partanna for thirty years.Pickering-Iazzi, ''Mafia and Outlaw Stories from Italian Life and Literature'', p. 166 She married again in 2000 and her husband was aware of her background. She would occasionally give talks about her story for the police to schools, but her face and name were always disguised. Eventually her teenage daughter found paintings she had made in her attic that were signed with her abandoned name. She told her daughter the whole story and decided that she needed to be more active. She decided to take up an offer by the

Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( , M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily d ...

to run for political office encouraged by her daughter.

Member of Parliament

When she stood for election to the

for the

, because of threats from the mafia, she wore a veil to protect her identity. She was surprised that, despite hiding her face, she was elected by an area in Sicily known for being dominated by the mafia. Once she was elected, then only known as the "ghost lady", she revealed her face on 13 June 2018 and stood by her beliefs. She is now an advocate for people who inform on the Mafia hoping to protect them and their families. In 2019, she was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women. In 2021, during her mandate as Deputy, she graduated in political sciences at Università degli Studi eCampus with a final dissertation (« tesi di laurea ») in private law.

Studies

She graduated in 2021 in political sciences at the Università degli Studi eCampus https://dait.interno.gov.it/documenti/trasparenza/POLITICHE_20220925/CAMERA_ITALIA_20220925/candidati/CI24/CP242/418895/1351384/12256_418895_1351384_piera_aiello_25092022_cv.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiello, Piera 1967 births Living people People from the Province of Trapani Antimafia Five Star Movement politicians Deputies of Legislature XVIII of Italy University of Palermo alumni