Antonio Bassolino

Antonio Bassolino
Mayor of Naples
In office 6 December 1993 – 24 May 2000
Preceded by	Francesco Tagliamonte
Succeeded by	Rosa Russo Iervolino
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 2 July 1987 – 11 January 1994
Constituency	Catanzaro (1987–1992) Naples (1992–1994)
Personal details
Born	(1947-03-20) 20 March 1947 (age 77) Afragola, Italy
Political party	PCI (1970–1991) PDS (1991–1998) DS (1998–2007) PD (2007–2017)
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Spouse	Anna Maria Carloni
Children	2
Residence(s)	Naples, Campania
Profession	politician

Antonio Bassolino,

from 1993 to 2000.

Biography

Bassolino was born in Afragola, Campania. At 17, he entered the Italian Communist Youth Federation, and in 1970 became a member of the regional council for the Italian Communist Party (PCI), and, the following year, secretary of the party section in Avellino. He held the latter position until 1975, when he became regional secretary for the PCI; from 1972, he was member of the party's national committee.

Deputy

In 1987, he was elected to the

media committee in 1990.

In the process leading to the split-up of the PCI into the

(PRC), Bassolino represented the moderate wing that sought mediation. Eventually, he joined the PDS.

Mayor and minister

In 1992, he was reelected to the Chamber, and, in 1993, he was sent to

.

Bassolino's years as mayor of Naples are generally viewed as a period of civil, economical and social renaissance for the city. In 1997 he was reelected, this time with the 72.9% of the votes. In October 1998, Premier Massimo D'Alema nominated him Minister of Welfare; however, after the assassination of his advisor Massimo D'Antona in October 1999, Bassolino resigned in order to focus his activities on Naples.

President of Campania

In 2000, he ran for the presidency of Campania, which raised some controversies. He was elected with 54.3% of the votes, and, in the elections of April 2005, with 61.6%. Among his accomplishments as governor of Campania are the construction of a regional metropolitan rail service and the new TAV station for high-speed trains in his native Afragola. Bassolino received the "Gold Star" Prize for his commitment to developing tourism and cultural ventures in Naples during his years as mayor. His essays include Mezzogiorno alla prova (1980) and La repubblica delle città (1996).

However, it has been argued that, under his administration, the regional debt has doubled.^[2] Moreover, and more importantly Bassolino has a considerable share of responsibility in the environmental disaster in the Campania region due to the deficiencies of the rubbish collection and treatment systems.^[3] In fact Bassolino is one of the 29 people remanded for trial and accused of involvement in ongoing aggravated fraud against the State and fraud regarding public works. The collapse of the services which were supposed to collect and treat the rubbish led to accumulation or garbage in the streets of the major urban centres to the point that schools and other public places had to be closed for some days and tourism declined substantially in 2008. As a result of this an increasing number of citizens and associations have been vocally calling for Bassolino's resignation.^[4][5]

He is married to Anna Maria Carloni, who was elected to the Senate in the XV legislature.^[6]

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1970	Regional Council of Campania	Naples		PCI	18,663	Y Elected
1980	Regional Council of Campania	Naples		PCI	98,128	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Catanzaro–Cosenza–Reggio Calabria		PCI	116,953	Y Elected
1992	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta		PDS	17,158	Y Elected

Honour

•  Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (30 june 2003)^[7]

External links

• Personal website (in Italian)
• President of Region Campania (in Italian)

References