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Roberta PinottiItalian Senator
Date of Birth: 20.05.1961
Country:  Italy |
Content:
- Early Life and Political Beginnings
- Member of Parliament
- Senator and Minister of Defense
- Notable Accomplishments and Controversies
- - Increasing the number of military personnel deployed abroad.
- Later Career and Personal Life
- Married to Gianni Orengo, Pinotti has two daughters, Maria and Elena.
Early Life and Political Beginnings
Roberta Pinotti was born in Genoa, Italy, to a communist factory worker father and a chef mother. A practicing Catholic, she earned a degree in modern literature and taught Italian in a high school. Pinotti became politically active in the 1990s, joining the Communist Party in 1989 and serving on the municipal council of Genoa's Sampierdarena district. From 1993 to 1997, she led the province of Genoa's education, youth, and social policy department, and from 1997 to 1999, she headed the city's education department.
Member of Parliament
In the 2001 general election, Pinotti was elected to the Chamber of Deputies under the Paese Nuovo list and joined the Democrats of the Left-Olive Tree faction. She was re-elected in 2006 as a member of the Democratic Party-Olive Tree faction. From 2006 to 2008, she served as the first female president of the Defense Commission in the Chamber of Deputies. As a shadow defense minister, she pushed for Italy's accession to the Geneva Convention's Protocol V, banning cluster munitions.
Senator and Minister of Defense
In the 2008 general election, Pinotti entered the Senate, where she served on the Permanent Senate Committee on Defense. From 2013 to 2014, she held the position of Undersecretary of State for Defense in the government of Enrico Letta. In February 2014, she became Italy's first female Minister of Defense under Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Notable Accomplishments and Controversies
As Minister of Defense, Pinotti played a key role in:- Suspending the procurement of F-35 fighter jets in 2014.
- Deploying Italian troops to Iraq and Libya to support anti-terrorism efforts.
- Establishing a F-35 maintenance and repair facility in Italy in partnership with the United States.
- Increasing the number of military personnel deployed abroad.
Despite her achievements, Pinotti faced criticism for prioritizing military spending over social programs and for her support of continued NATO membership.
Later Career and Personal Life
After losing her seat in the 2018 general election, Pinotti was re-elected to the Senate in 2019 from the Piedmont region. She continues to be a vocal advocate for Italy's role in NATO and for the protection of human rights in conflict zones.
