Dario Franceschini

Dario Franceschini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdaːrjo frantʃesˈkiːni]; born 19 October 1958) is an Italian lawyer, writer, and politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD), of which he briefly became leader in 2009. Franceschini served as Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, a position that he held from February 2014 to June 2018 and again from September 2019 to October 2022, making him the longest-serving cultural heritage minister in the history of the Italian Republic. Franceschini also served as Minister for Parliamentary Relations from 2013 to 2014. Franceschini was a prominent member of the Italian People's Party (PPI), of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL), and the first Deputy Secretary of the PD. Following the resignation of Walter Veltroni on 21 February 2009, the Constituent Assembly of the PD elected him the new secretary. On 25 October 2009, he lost the 2009 PD leadership election to Pier Luigi Bersani, and subsequently accepted his offer to become the party's leader in the Chamber of Deputies. Franceschini, who is considered a centrist and a Christian leftist, is the leader of AreaDem, which is the majority faction in the PD.