Antonio Bassolino.

Antonio Bassolino (born March 20, 1947) is an Italian politician. He is currently governor of the Campania region. March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in leap years). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... For other uses, see Campania (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Bassolino was born in Afragola, Campania. At 17 he entered the Federation of Young Italian Communists, and in 1970 became 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. In 1987, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in the college of Catanzaro, becoming president of the Parliament media committee in 1990. Afragola is an important city of southern Italy. ... The Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) or Italian Communist Party emerged as Partito Comunista dItalia or Communist Party of Italy from a secession by the Leninist comunisti puri tendency from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) during that bodys congress on 21 January 1921 at Livorno. ... Avellino is a town and comune, capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. ... Back side of Palazzo Montecitorio designed by architect Ernesto Basile. ... Country Italy Region Calabria Province Catanzaro (CZ) Mayor Rosario Olivo (since June 2006) Elevation 342 m Area 111. ... The Parliament of Italy (Italian: Parlamento Italiano) is the national parliament of Italy. ...

In the process leading to the split-up of the PCI into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Party of the Communist Refoundation (PRC), Bassolino represented the moderate wing that sought mediation. Eventually, he joined the PDS. The Democratic Party of the Left (Italian: Partito democratico della Sinistra, or PdS) was the evolution in a social-democratic direction of the Italian Communist Party, or PCI. It was founded by Achille Occhetto, last secretary of the PCI and first of the PdS. The logo of the PdS consisted...

In 1992, he was reelected to the Chamber, and, in 1993, he was sent to Naples to reform the local section of PDS — which had been involved in the Tangentopoli bribe scandal. It was there that he gained a fame of a "hardman", one which surfaced during the subsequent election for mayor, which he won by defeating the right-wing candidate, Alessandra Mussolini. Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) Capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ... Bettino Craxi, viewed by many as the symbol of Tangentopoli, leader of the Italian Socialist Party, is greeted by a salvo of coins as a sign of loathing by protesters contesting him. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Alessandra Mussolini (born December 30, 1962) is an Italian fascist politician and Member of the European Parliament. ...

Bassolino's following year 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 of 1998, Premier Massimo D'Alema nominated him Minister of Welfare; however, after the assassination of his advisor Massimo D'Antona in the October 1999, Bassolino resigned in order to focus his activities on Naples. In Italy, the President of the Council of Ministers (Italian: Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri) is the countrys prime minister or head of government, and occupies the fourth-most important state office. ... Massimo DAlema (born on April 20, 1949 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian journalist and politician, a former prime minister and a former national secretary of the PDS, Partito Democratico della Sinistra. ...

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 up to 61.6%%. Among his accomplishments as governor of Campania are the construction of a regional metropolitan rail service and the new TAV station in his native Afragola for high-speed trains. However, it has been argued that, under his administration, the regional debt was doubled.

Bassolino received the Prize "Gold Star" 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).

External links

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