Sandra "Sandy" Maria Cane (born July 28, 1961, in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an Italian politician who was the former mayor of

Viggiù Viggiù (; lmo, Vigiǘu, label=Varesino ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about northeast of Varese, on the border with Switzerland. Viggiù border ...

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

''. Cane's father is

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and her mother is

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, a native of Viggiù. After her parents' divorce in 1971, Cane moved to her mother's hometown. Holding a degree in foreign languages, she started to work in

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

sector and became the director of a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. She is also well-versed in the local

Western Lombard Western Lombard is a group of dialects of Lombard, a Romance language spoken in Italy. It is widespread in the Lombard provinces of Milan, Monza, Varese, Como, Lecco, Sondrio, a small part of Cremona (except Crema and its neighbours), ...

dialect (''dialetto bosino''). Cane became

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official ...

's candidate for Viggiù mayor in June 2009 elections. She was elected the first female

non-white The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

mayor of Italy after winning about 30% of the votes. In an interview with ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', she said that she was an

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

supporter.Anti-immigration party member becomes Italy's first black mayor
/ref>

References

1961 births Living people African-American politicians Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Lega Nord politicians 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people {{italy-mayor-stub