Renzi, Matteo

Renzi, Matteo,

1975–, Italian political leader, b. Florence, grad. Univ. of Florence (1999). Renzi was a member of the Italian People's party (1996–2002), which merged with other parties to form Democracy Is Freedom—The Daisy (2002–7) and merge with the Democrats of the Left to become the Democratic party (2007–). President of Florence prov. from 2004, he was elected mayor of Florence in 2009. Following his election as secretary of the Democratic party in Dec., 2013, his criticisms of Premier LettaLetta, Enrico,
1966–, Italian political leader, b. Pisa. He actively entered politics in 1994, joining the center-left Italian People's party. He held a post in the finance ministry as Italy prepared for the euro and shortly after was appointed (1998) minister of European
..... Click the link for more information.
's government led to Letta's resignation, and in Feb., 2014, Renzi–who had never been a member of parliament–succeeded him. Renzi secured passage of a number of governmental and economic reforms, but resigned as premier in Dec., 2016, after voters rejected constitutional changes that would have strengthened the central government and weakened the Italian senate. He resigned as party leader in Feb., 2017, was reelected the following April, and resigned again in Mar., 2018, following the party's losses in the parliamentary elections.