Lorenzo Fontana
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The Honourable Lorenzo Fontana |
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File:Lorenzo Fontana daticamera 2022.jpg
Fontana in 2022
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President of the Chamber of Deputies | |
Assumed office 14 October 2022 |
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Preceded by | Roberto Fico |
Minister of European Affairs | |
In office 10 July 2019 – 5 September 2019 |
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Prime Minister | Giuseppe Conte |
Preceded by | Paolo Savona |
Succeeded by | Enzo Amendola |
Minister for Family and Disability | |
In office 1 June 2018 – 10 July 2019 |
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Prime Minister | Giuseppe Conte |
Preceded by | Paolo Gentiloni (acting) |
Succeeded by | Alessandra Locatelli |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
Assumed office 23 March 2018 |
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Constituency | Veneto 2 |
Member of the European Parliament | |
In office 7 June 2009 – 22 March 2018 |
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Constituency | North-East Italy |
Personal details | |
Born | Verona, Veneto, Italy |
10 April 1980
Political party | League |
Other political affiliations |
Lega Nord |
Spouse(s) | Emilia |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | University of Padua |
Lorenzo Fontana (born 10 April 1980) is an Italian politician and member of Lega, who is serving as President of the Chamber of Deputies since 14 October 2022.[1]
Moreover, Fontana served as Minister of European Affairs in the government of Giuseppe Conte. He previously served as Minister of Family and Disability from 1 June 2018 to 10 July 2019 and as Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies from 29 March to 1 June 2018.[2] He is also the Deputy Federal Secretary of the Lega, under the leadership of Matteo Salvini.
Contents
Early life
Lorenzo Fontana was born in Verona, Veneto, in 1980. He graduated in political science at the University of Padua and in Christian history at the European University of Rome.[3] During the university he joined the Liga Veneta, the regional branch of Lega Nord (LN) and in 2002 he was elected vice-secretary of the Young Padanians Movement, the League's youth wing.
Fontana is married and has one daughter.[4] He is a fervent traditionalist Catholic and attends the Tridentine Mass in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims, operated by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). His spiritual conselour is Father Vilmar Pavesi FSSP, a priest of that church, who is a well-known monarchist and an opponent of abortion, divorce, euthanasia and LGBT rights.[5][6]
Political career
After being elected to Verona city council, in 2009 he was elected to the European Parliament with 52,136 votes.[7][8] In 2012, he was the head of the League's group in the European Parliament. From 2009 to 2014, he was also vice-president of the Committee on Culture and Education. During the 8th legislature, he was also the supervisor of the cooperation deal between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Europol.[9] Fontana was re-elected to the 2014 European election gaining 27,240 votes and becoming a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq (D–IQ).
On 26 February 2016, he was appointed by Matteo Salvini as Deputy Federal Secretary of Lega Nord, a position that he held together with Giancarlo Giorgetti. On 8 July 2017 he became deputy mayor of Verona.[10] At the 2018 Italian general election Fontana was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the multi-member constituency of Veneto 2.[11] From April to August 2018 he served as one of the vice-presidents of the Chamber.[12]
On 1 June 2018, Lega and Five Star Movement (M5S) formed a coalition government led by the independent university professor Giuseppe Conte.[13] The government was sworn in on 5 September 2019.[14] Fontana was appointed Minister of Family and Disability.[15][16] In August 2018, Fontana called for the repeal of the 1993 Mancino Law, which criminalises hate speech, claiming the law was being used by "globalists" to promote "anti-Italian racism".[17] In March 2019 he helped organize the anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-abortion World Congress of Families in Verona, to the point of authorizing the use of the logo of Giuseppe Conte's administrative office in order to promote the event without the prime minister's permission.[18]
On 10 July 2019, Fontana was appointed Italy's Minister of European Affairs.[19][20][21] However, in August 2019, the League filed a motion of no confidence in the coalition government and the cabinet collapsed.
President of the Chamber of Deputies
After the 2022 general election, which saw a clear victory of the centre-right coalition able of winning an absolute majority both in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies,[22] Fontana was re-elected to the Chamber for the single-member constituency of Verona, gaining 132,554 votes.[23][24] On 14 October 2022, Fontana was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies in the fourth round with 222 votes out of 400.[25]
Political views
Fontana is widely considered an ultraconservative.[26][27][28] He calls himself a "crusader" who fights against abortion, euthanasia, same-sex civil unions and stepchild adoption, which he considers as a "weakening of the family". He is also against "pro-LGBT" sexual education, stating that Vladimir Putin's Russia "is the reference for those who believe in a nationalist model of society".[29] Fontana is a great admirer of Putin, who described as a "light" for the Western world.[30] On 2 June 2018, the day after becoming minister, he added that "gay families do not exist", labelling them as "filth".[31][32][33]
He opposes illegal immigration to Italy, claiming it to be a serious threat that "aims to erase the Italian people along with their communities and traditions", along with "gay marriages and the so-called gender theory in schools".[34] Moreover, during his political career, Fontana built strong ties with neo-nazi groups in his hometown Verona.[35][36]
Works
In 2018, Fontana wrote with Ettore Gotti Tedeschi the book The empty cradle of civilization. At the origin of the crisis, about the risks related to demographic decline in Italy.[37]
Electoral history
Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
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2009 | European Parliament | North-East Italy | LN | 52,136 | Elected | |
2014 | European Parliament | North-East Italy | LN | 27,240 | Elected | |
2018 | Chamber of Deputies | Veneto 2 | Lega | –[lower-alpha 1] | Elected | |
2022 | Chamber of Deputies | Veneto 2 – Verona | Lega | 132,554 | Elected |
- ↑ Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.
References
- ↑ Fontana eletto presidente della Camera. ANSA
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- ↑ Bio
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- ↑ Lorenzo Fontana. Camera dei Deputati
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- ↑ Elezioni 2022, Camera dei Deputati – Collegio di Verona. Ministero dell'Interno
- ↑ Lorenzo Fontana. Camera dei Deputati
- ↑ Il discorso di Lorenzo Fontana nuovo presidente della Camera che elogia il Papa e ringrazia Bossi: "L'Italia non deve omologarsi". la Repubblica
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- ↑ Lorenzo Fontana: chi è il candidato presidente della Camera di Lega e Fdi, tra putinismo e pro-life. Open
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- ↑ https://agenparl.eu/2022/10/14/fontana-definisce-schifezze-le-coppie-gay-marrazzo-partito-gay-rischio-democrazia-e-diritti-di-donne-ed-lgbt/
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- ↑ Lorenzo Fontana, l'amico dei nazisti veronesi che definiva Putin una 'luce'. Globalist
- ↑ Lorenzo Fontana, il ministro della Famiglia ultracattolico che strizza l'occhio ai nazifascisti. la Repubblica
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Official website (in English)
- Personal profile of Lorenzo Fontana in the European Parliament's database of members
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 2022 |
Incumbent |
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