Lorenzo Fontana

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For the Italian rower, see Lorenzo Fontana (rower).
The Honourable
Lorenzo Fontana
Fontana in 2022
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Assumed office
14 October 2022
Preceded byRoberto Fico
Minister of European Affairs
In office
10 July 2019 – 5 September 2019
Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte
Preceded byPaolo Savona
Succeeded byVincenzo Amendola
Minister for Family and Disability
In office
1 June 2018 – 10 July 2019
Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte
Preceded byPaolo Gentiloni (acting)
Succeeded byAlessandra Locatelli
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Assumed office
23 March 2018
ConstituencyVeneto 2 (2018)
Verona (2022)
Member of the European Parliament
In office
7 June 2009 – 22 March 2018
ConstituencyNorth-East Italy
Personal details
Born (1980-04-10) 10 April 1980 (age 44)
Verona, Veneto, Italy
Political partyLega (2017–present)
Other political
affiliations		Lega Nord (until 2020)
SpouseEmilia Caputo
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Padua
European University of Rome
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Lorenzo Fontana (born 10 April 1980) is an Italian politician and member of the League (Lega), who is serving as President of the Chamber of Deputies since 14 October 2022.[1]

Fontana served as Minister of European Affairs in the Conte I Cabinet. 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 Lega under the leadership of Matteo Salvini.

Early life[edit]

Lorenzo Fontana was born in Verona, Veneto, in 1980. He graduated in political science at the University of Padua, in Christian history at the European University of Rome and in philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.[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 regularly attends the Tridentine Mass. His spiritual counsellor is Father Vilmar Pavesi FSSP who is a well-known monarchist and an opponent of abortion, divorce, euthanasia, and LGBT rights.[5][6]

Political career[edit]

Fontana in 2016

After being elected to Verona city council, he was elected to the European Parliament with 52,136 votes during the 2009 European Parliament election in Italy.[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 European Parliament 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 Parliament election in Italy, gaining 27,240 votes and becoming a member of the European Parliament 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 the League, 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, the League and the 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 Minister for Disabilities.[15][16] In August 2018, Fontana called for the repeal of the 1993 Mancino Law, which criminalises hate speech, saying 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 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] 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[edit]

After the 2022 Italian general election, which saw a clear victory of the centre-right coalition able of winning an absolute majority both in the Chamber and the Senate of the Republic,[22] Fontana was re-elected to the Chamber for the single-member constituency of Verona, gaining 132,554 votes.[23][24] On 14 October, Fontana was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies in the fourth round with 222 votes out of 400.[25][26][27]

In his inauguration speech, Fontana thanked President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis for their role in Italy's life and quoted several Catholic personalities, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Carlo Acutis.[28]

Political views[edit]

Fontana is widely considered an ultraconservative.[29][30][31] 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".[32] Fontana is an admirer of Putin, who described as a light for the Western world.[33] On 2 June 2018, the day after becoming minister, he added that "gay families do not exist", labelling them as "filth".[34][35][36] 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".[37]

During his political career, Fontana built strong ties with neo-Nazi groups in his hometown Verona.[38][39] In 2016, he welcomed and greeted Golden Dawn, a Greek neo-Nazi party later judged by the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece as a criminal organization, and he described its members as "fighters", stating that "their contribution will be decisive".[40]

Works[edit]

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.[41]

Electoral history[edit]

Election House Constituency Party Votes Result
2009 European Parliament North-East Italy LN 52,136 checkY Elected
2014 European Parliament North-East Italy LN 27,240 checkY Elected
2018 Chamber of Deputies Veneto 2 Lega –[a] checkY Elected
2022 Chamber of Deputies Veneto 2 – Verona Lega 132,554 checkY Elected
  1. ^ Elected in a closed list proportional representation system

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fontana eletto presidente della Camera. ANSA
  2. ^ "XVIII Legislatura - Deputati e Organi - Scheda deputato - FONTANA Lorenzo". Camera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  3. ^ Bio
  4. ^ "Biografia - Lorenzo Fontana". Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Here is Italy's new cabinet in full". Thelocal.it. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  6. ^ Testi, Elena (2018-09-22). "«I gay istigati dal diavolo, l'aborto va abolito»: parla il consigliere spirituale di Lorenzo Fontana". L'Espresso (in Italian).
  7. ^ "Home - Deputati - Parlamento Europeo". Europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Cerca un deputato - Deputati - Parlamento Europeo". Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  9. ^ "RELAZIONE sul progetto di decisione di esecuzione del Consiglio che approva la conclusione da parte dell'Ufficio europeo di polizia (Europol) dell'accordo sulla cooperazione operativa e strategica tra la Bosnia-Erzegovina ed Europol - A8-0352/2015". Europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Comune di Verona - Composizione e deleghe". Comune.verona.it. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  11. ^ Online, Redazione (3 May 2018). "Elezioni politiche 2018, tutti gli eletti in Veneto". Corriere del Veneto. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  12. ^ Lorenzo Fontana. Camera dei Deputati
  13. ^ "Governo Conte bis: ecco la lista completa dei ministri". Repubblica.it. 4 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Conte Bis, lunedì alle 11 dibattito fiducia alla Camera". Adnkronos (in Italian). Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Lorenzo Fontana ministro della Famiglia e disabilità: il leghista che combatte la "deriva nichilista" della società". Repubblica.it. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Chi è Fontana, il nuovo ministro della Famiglia e disabilità". Adnkronos.com. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  17. ^ Robins-Early, Nick (4 August 2018). "Far-Right Italian Cabinet Minister Calls For Repealing Anti-Fascism Law" – via Huff Post.
  18. ^ "Italian PM distances himself from anti-gay, anti-abortion event". The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Italy hands eurosceptic League minister the EU portfolio". Reuters. July 10, 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  20. ^ Follain, John; Totaro, Lorenzo (9 July 2019). "Italy's Salvini to Tap Veteran European Lawmaker as Minister". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Ultra-conservative Salvini ally takes over European Affairs job". The Local. July 10, 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  22. ^ Gautheret, Jérôme (25 September 2022). "The unstoppable rise of Giorgia Meloni, the new figurehead of the Italian radical right". Le Monde. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  23. ^ Elezioni 2022, Camera dei Deputati – Collegio di Verona. Ministero dell'Interno
  24. ^ Lorenzo Fontana. Camera dei Deputati
  25. ^ Il discorso di Lorenzo Fontana nuovo presidente della Camera che elogia il Papa e ringrazia Bossi: "L'Italia non deve omologarsi". la Repubblica
  26. ^ "Outrage as Italy's lower house of parliament elects anti-LGBTQ speaker". The Local. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Italy parliament elects right-wing Fontana as new speaker". Wanted in Rome. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  28. ^ "Fontana, discorso integrale del nuovo presidente della Camera: «La diversità è ricchezza»". Il Gazzettino (in Italian). 14 October 2022.
  29. ^ "Fontana, un fedelissimo di Salvini agli Affari Ue - Politica". Agenzia ANSA. July 10, 2019.
  30. ^ "I sentimenti anti-business iniziano ad allarmare l'economia italiana". www.ilfoglio.it.
  31. ^ "Chi è Fontana, il fedelissimo di Salvini nuovo ministro agli Affari Ue". Il Sole 24 ORE.
  32. ^ "Fontana, il ministro per la Famiglia contro aborto e coppie gay". 1 June 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  33. ^ Lorenzo Fontana: chi è il candidato presidente della Camera di Lega e Fdi, tra putinismo e pro-life. Open
  34. ^ "Fontana: "Famiglie gay? Mi attaccano perché sono cattolico". Ma Salvini lo stoppa: "Sue idee non in contratto"". Repubblica.it. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  35. ^ "Lorenzo Fontana: "Famiglie gay non esistono. Più figli, meno aborti". Salvini: "Le sue idee non sono nel contratto di governo"". Il Fatto Quotidiano. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  36. ^ "Fontana, Definisce Schifezze le Coppie Gay: Marrazzo (Partito Gay) Rischio Democrazia e Diritti di Donne ed LGBT+". 14 October 2022.
  37. ^ Pennisi, Martina (6 January 2018). "Gay, quando il ministro della Famiglia diceva: "Vogliono dominarci"". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  38. ^ Lorenzo Fontana, l'amico dei nazisti veronesi che definiva Putin una 'luce'. Globalist
  39. ^ Lorenzo Fontana, il ministro della Famiglia ultracattolico che strizza l'occhio ai nazifascisti. la Repubblica
  40. ^ Herrera, Brenton (2022-10-15). "Italy: President of the Parliament Lorenzo Fontana who in 2016 "welcomed" the Golden Dawn conference". Fourals. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  41. ^ "la culla vuota della civiltà all'origine della crisi - Google Search". Google.it. Retrieved 2018-05-13.

External links[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
2022–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Ignazio La Russa
as President of the Senate
 Order of precedence of Italy
President of the Chamber of Deputies 		Succeeded by
Giorgia Meloni
as Prime Minister
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