When Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as the first female premier in Italian republican history, many saw her as a step towards that female emancipation that is perhaps further away from Italy than many other countries. As she put it in her parliament investiture speech on October 25 of last year, “among the many burdens that I feel resting on my shoulders today there is that of being the first female head of government of this nation. When I dwell on the enormity of this fact, I feel the responsibility I have towards all those women who face difficulties to affirm their talent.”
This speech received the convinced applause, not only of the women (and men) of her side of the political aisle, but also of women from opposing parties, especially the Democratic Party. Among those women sat a new deputy, Elly Schlein, a bit worn out as an MEP and considered by many to be the true hope of the Left, which for years has been experiencing a seemingly inescapable crisis. After four months in office, this courageous and determined woman has won the leadership of the largest party of the Italian Left. Now Schlein is preparing to lead the opposition against her great rival Giorgia Meloni and the government she heads. Italian politics will likely spend at least the next five years centered around this woman against woman duel.
The two women are diametrically opposed in politics, and their personal histories also differ greatly. That being said, they are both women of strong character, great ambition, and profound courage and determination. It is because of these shared attributes that each has prevailed in a world, Italian politics, that has been almost entirely led by men. To understand the two women better, it is worth knowing a bit about their individual histories.
Giorgia Meloni first entered politics very young, at the age of 15. She was motivated by her anger at some of the mafia’s massacres, which in 1992 led to the killing of two judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Born into a modest family in the populous Garbatella district of Rome, she immediately asserted herself in the youth movement of the right-wing party to which she had joined. The story of her political ascent begins in Viterbo, a small village north of Rome. It was there that she won the presidency of the right-wing youth movement “Azione giovani” in 2004. Meloni rapidly showed her great value, and in 2006 she became the youngest vice president of the Congress of Deputies in Italian history. In 2008, in the fourth Berlusconi government, she set another record, becoming the youngest minister in republican history at just 31 years old. But at the height of his brief parliamentary career she decided, in open contrast with the leader of his coalition, Silvio Berlusconi, to leave the party to found her own in 2012: Fratelli d’Italia. The rest is a well-known story. She rose, seemingly unstoppable, leading her party to victory and becoming the Italian prime minister.
Elly Schlein instead comes from a high-ranking family, born in Lugano in 1985, her father is professor emeritus of political science and history at Franklin University in Lugano. Her mother is Maria Paola Viviani, full professor of comparative public law at the law faculty of the University of Insubria in Varese, near Milan. Elly Schlein graduated from Bologna, having studied law. Her first political experience was as a volunteer in Barack Obama’s electoral campaign for the 2012 US presidential election. Perhaps it is because of this (as well as her American citizenship) that many of her opponents in Italy compare her to the left-wing American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2013, she founded Occupy PD, a protest movement against the Partido Democratico. In 2014 she ran for the European elections, collecting over 50,000 preferences. In 2020, she was elected to the Emilia Romagna regional council, becoming the number two of President Bonaccini, whom she would later defeat in the race for the leadership of the party.
Today, these differences in family history and social background between the two women, also show in their respective political lines. Meloni has always aligned herself with the less well-off classes and uncompromising on crime. Schlein inevitably comes close to American progressivism, and this could in theory clash with the base of her party. Elly Schlein is called to lead a party that appears increasingly split and divided, and which is unable to organize a decent opposition to a center-right government that can count on a solid majority—cohesive on important issues. It is no coincidence that Schlein, who evidently wants to follow (even if she would never say so) the triumphal path of her rival, went to Brussels as her first international mission, precisely on the occasion of the European Council between heads of state. And during her encounters with socialist leaders such as the Spanish Sanchez and the Finnish Marin, she completely criticized Meloni’s foreign policy, both on migrants and on economic issues.
The contrast between these two women in Italy is certainly unique in our history. Meloni and Schlein are each trying to fill the leadership void that is lacking not only in Italy, but also in Europe. In recent months, Meloni has been trying to achieve her goal of uniting her ECR group with the EPP in Brussels to arrive at a clear center-right majority in 2024. If it comes about, she would inevitably play a prominent role in this majority. For her part, Schlein will have her first important electoral test in the European elections. She faces it with a split and divided opposition like never before in Italy. In contrast, Meloni can count on a solid majority at home and from her position as president of the ECR she can also play an important role in the next European elections.
Meloni probably realizes that a clear victory in next European election could also favor her leadership at the European level, following Angela Merkel’s legacy. In short, it seems that in Italy—and maybe even the whole of Europe—Oscar Wilde’s observation about women applies: “Give women the right opportunities and they are capable of everything.”
Italy: Two Women in Power
When Giorgia Meloni was sworn in as the first female premier in Italian republican history, many saw her as a step towards that female emancipation that is perhaps further away from Italy than many other countries. As she put it in her parliament investiture speech on October 25 of last year, “among the many burdens that I feel resting on my shoulders today there is that of being the first female head of government of this nation. When I dwell on the enormity of this fact, I feel the responsibility I have towards all those women who face difficulties to affirm their talent.”
This speech received the convinced applause, not only of the women (and men) of her side of the political aisle, but also of women from opposing parties, especially the Democratic Party. Among those women sat a new deputy, Elly Schlein, a bit worn out as an MEP and considered by many to be the true hope of the Left, which for years has been experiencing a seemingly inescapable crisis. After four months in office, this courageous and determined woman has won the leadership of the largest party of the Italian Left. Now Schlein is preparing to lead the opposition against her great rival Giorgia Meloni and the government she heads. Italian politics will likely spend at least the next five years centered around this woman against woman duel.
The two women are diametrically opposed in politics, and their personal histories also differ greatly. That being said, they are both women of strong character, great ambition, and profound courage and determination. It is because of these shared attributes that each has prevailed in a world, Italian politics, that has been almost entirely led by men. To understand the two women better, it is worth knowing a bit about their individual histories.
Giorgia Meloni first entered politics very young, at the age of 15. She was motivated by her anger at some of the mafia’s massacres, which in 1992 led to the killing of two judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Born into a modest family in the populous Garbatella district of Rome, she immediately asserted herself in the youth movement of the right-wing party to which she had joined. The story of her political ascent begins in Viterbo, a small village north of Rome. It was there that she won the presidency of the right-wing youth movement “Azione giovani” in 2004. Meloni rapidly showed her great value, and in 2006 she became the youngest vice president of the Congress of Deputies in Italian history. In 2008, in the fourth Berlusconi government, she set another record, becoming the youngest minister in republican history at just 31 years old. But at the height of his brief parliamentary career she decided, in open contrast with the leader of his coalition, Silvio Berlusconi, to leave the party to found her own in 2012: Fratelli d’Italia. The rest is a well-known story. She rose, seemingly unstoppable, leading her party to victory and becoming the Italian prime minister.
Elly Schlein instead comes from a high-ranking family, born in Lugano in 1985, her father is professor emeritus of political science and history at Franklin University in Lugano. Her mother is Maria Paola Viviani, full professor of comparative public law at the law faculty of the University of Insubria in Varese, near Milan. Elly Schlein graduated from Bologna, having studied law. Her first political experience was as a volunteer in Barack Obama’s electoral campaign for the 2012 US presidential election. Perhaps it is because of this (as well as her American citizenship) that many of her opponents in Italy compare her to the left-wing American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2013, she founded Occupy PD, a protest movement against the Partido Democratico. In 2014 she ran for the European elections, collecting over 50,000 preferences. In 2020, she was elected to the Emilia Romagna regional council, becoming the number two of President Bonaccini, whom she would later defeat in the race for the leadership of the party.
Today, these differences in family history and social background between the two women, also show in their respective political lines. Meloni has always aligned herself with the less well-off classes and uncompromising on crime. Schlein inevitably comes close to American progressivism, and this could in theory clash with the base of her party. Elly Schlein is called to lead a party that appears increasingly split and divided, and which is unable to organize a decent opposition to a center-right government that can count on a solid majority—cohesive on important issues. It is no coincidence that Schlein, who evidently wants to follow (even if she would never say so) the triumphal path of her rival, went to Brussels as her first international mission, precisely on the occasion of the European Council between heads of state. And during her encounters with socialist leaders such as the Spanish Sanchez and the Finnish Marin, she completely criticized Meloni’s foreign policy, both on migrants and on economic issues.
The contrast between these two women in Italy is certainly unique in our history. Meloni and Schlein are each trying to fill the leadership void that is lacking not only in Italy, but also in Europe. In recent months, Meloni has been trying to achieve her goal of uniting her ECR group with the EPP in Brussels to arrive at a clear center-right majority in 2024. If it comes about, she would inevitably play a prominent role in this majority. For her part, Schlein will have her first important electoral test in the European elections. She faces it with a split and divided opposition like never before in Italy. In contrast, Meloni can count on a solid majority at home and from her position as president of the ECR she can also play an important role in the next European elections.
Meloni probably realizes that a clear victory in next European election could also favor her leadership at the European level, following Angela Merkel’s legacy. In short, it seems that in Italy—and maybe even the whole of Europe—Oscar Wilde’s observation about women applies: “Give women the right opportunities and they are capable of everything.”
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