Il Presidente della Camera dei deputati Gianfranco Fini

Gianfranco Fini was born in Bologna on 3 January 1952. He has three daughters, Giuliana, Carolina and Martina.

He holds a Pedagogy degree and is a professional journalist. He started his political activity within the Fronte della Gioventù, of which he became the National Secretary in 1978.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1983, and has been a Member of Parliament since then. In 1989 and 1994 he was a Member of the European Parliament.

In 1987 Giorgio Almirante designated him as his successor to the national secretariat of the MSI (Italian Social Movement-National Right), a position that he held until 1990 and to which he returned again after a gap of one year.

In 1993 he ran for the mayorship of Rome, and reached the second-round run-off ballot.

In 1994 the alliance with Silvio Berlusconi was forged and won the elections in the same year.

In 1995, at the Fiuggi Party Conference, AN (National Alliance) was formed and he was elected President of the party.

From 2001 to 2006 he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the second and third Berlusconi Governments.

In January 2002 he was appointed representative for Italy to the European Convention for the framing of a draft treaty establishing a Constitution.

From November 2004 to May 2006 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Among the important legislative bills sponsored by Fini and approved by Parliament, special mention should be made of Law 189 of 2002 (known as the Bossi-Fini law), which seeks to counter illegal immigration, and Law 49 of 2006 (known as the Fini-Giovanardi law), which amended the Consolidated Law on narcotics and, specifically, did away with the distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs.

On 30 April 2008 he was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies.