Paola Severino (born 22 October 1948) is an Italian lawyer, academic and politician.
Paola Severino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 16 November 2011 – 28 April 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Mario Monti |
| Preceded by | Nitto Francesco Palma |
| Succeeded by | Anna Maria Cancellieri |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 October 1948 Naples, Italy |
| Political party | Independent |
| Education | Sapienza University |
She served as Minister of Justice in the Monti cabinet from November 2011 to April 2013, being the first woman appointed Minister of Justice in Italian history.[1][2] On 3 October 2016, she was nominated rector of Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli.[3]
Early life and education
editSeverino was born in Naples in 1948.[1] She studied law at La Sapienza University of Rome and graduated in 1971.[1]
She is married to former CONSOB executive Paolo Di Benedetto, with whom she had a daughter. Severino is an amputee, having lost her right arm due to an illness.[4]
Career
editSeverino began her career as a researcher at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Council of Research) in 1972, and worked there until 1975.[1] She then worked as an assistant professor at La Sapienza from 1975 to 1987. Later she began to work at Perugia University and taught penal commercial law at the Faculty of Economics. She was appointed vice president of the Superior Council of Military Magistracy in 1997. She was the first Italian woman appointed this post.[1] Her tenure lasted until 2002. In addition, Severino worked with Giovanni Maria Flick, former President of the Italian Constitutional Court.[1]
She is among top criminal lawyers in Italy.[1] One of her clients was the former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.[5][6] Other prominent individual clients of Severino include Cesare Geronzi and Francesco Caltagirone whom she defended in the Cirio trial.[6] Italian energy giant Eni was another client of Severino.[7]
She served as the head of the department of law at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome from 2003 to 2006.[8] Before her appointment as minister of justice, she was working as a professor of penal law at the School for Carabinieri Officers and a Pro-Rector Vicar at LUISS Guido Carli University.[1]
She was appointed minister of justice on 16 November 2011. Her income in 2011 was more than seven million euros, making her the top rich minister in the Monti cabinet.[9] Her tenure ended in April 2013.[10] Anna Maria Cancellieri replaced her as justice minister.[11]
From 2018 to 2020 she was Special Representative of the President-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the fight against corruption, a position established by the Italian Presidency of the organization in 2018 [12]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Giuliani, Frencesca (9 May 2012). "Italian Minister of Justice Paola Severino To Visit the US Next Week". i-Italy. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ Hooper, John (16 November 2011). "Mario Monti's technocrats: profiles of the new Italian cabinet". The Guardian. Rome. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ "Luiss Guido Carli | Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali, Roma".
- ^ "La disabilità affrontata con coraggio a dispetto di "abilioti" che remano contro" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ Roe, Alex (17 November 2011). "March of the Technocrats: Italy's Mario Monti's Ministers". Italy Chronicles. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ a b Francesca Giuliani (16 November 2011). "The Who's Who of the Monti Government". i-Italy. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ^ "Q&A: Monti's technocratic government for Italy". BBC. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ "Severino Is First Woman to Lead Ministry of Justice". Review Italy. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
- ^ Squires, Nick (22 February 2012). "Italian austerity government full of millionaires". The Telegraph. Rome. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ "Italy's new cabinet lineup". Rome. Xinhua News Agency. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "Italian cabinet comes together". Euronews. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ^ "OSCE's first Special Representative on Combating Corruption". OSCE. Retrieved 30 March 2021.