81 Notable alumni of
University of Palermo
Updated:
The University of Palermo is 608th in the world, 226th in Europe, and 15th in Italy by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 81 notable alumni from the University of Palermo sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Sergio Mattarella
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianlawyerjudge
- Biography
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Sergio Mattarella OMRI OMCA is an Italian politician and jurist who has been President of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 2023, Mattarella has been the only living Italian president.
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Giovanni Falcone
- Occupations
- magistratejudge
- Biography
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Giovanni Falcone was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. After a long and distinguished career, culminating in the Maxi Trial in 1986–1987, on 23 May 1992, Falcone was assassinated by the Corleonesi Mafia in the Capaci bombing, on the A29 motorway near the town of Capaci.
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Luca Guadagnino
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directordirectorfilm producer
- Biography
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Luca Guadagnino is an Italian film director and producer. His films are characterized by their emotional complexity, eroticism, and lavish visuals. Guadagnino has received numerous accolades, including a Silver Lion, alongside nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.
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Paolo Borsellino
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Paolo Emanuele Borsellino was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. After a long and distinguished career, culminating in the Maxi Trial in 1986–1987, on 19 July 1992, Borsellino was killed by a car bomb in Via D'Amelio, near his mother's house in Palermo.
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Andrea Camilleri
- Occupations
- novelistfilm directorwriterplaywrightscreenwriter
- Biography
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Andrea Calogero Camilleri was an Italian writer best known for his Salvo Montalbano crime novels.
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Piersanti Mattarella
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Piersanti Mattarella was an Italian politician who was assassinated by the Mafia while he held the position of President of the Regional Government of Sicily. A member of Christian Democracy, he was the older brother of Sergio Mattarella, who has been President of Italy since 2015.
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Rocco Chinnici
- Occupations
- magistratejudge
- Biography
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Rocco Chinnici was an Italian anti-Mafia magistrate killed by the Sicilian Mafia.
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Francesco Crispi
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomatlawyer
- Biography
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Francesco Crispi was an Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architects of Italian unification in 1860. Crispi served as Prime Minister of Italy for six years, from 1887 to 1891, and again from 1893 to 1896, and was the first prime minister from Southern Italy. Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Otto von Bismarck, William Ewart Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury.
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Teresa Mannino
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision presenteractorradio personalityscreenwriter
- Biography
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Teresa Mannino is an Italian comedian, actress, and television personality.
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Giulia Bongiorno
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Giulia Bongiorno is an Italian lawyer and politician who served as the Italian Minister of Public Administration from 1 June 2018 to 5 September 2019. A prominent criminal defense attorney, she has served in both houses of the Italian parliament: formerly a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013, she has served as a Senator of the Italian Republic since 15 March 2018.
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Pietro Grasso
- Occupations
- politicianmagistratejudge
- Biography
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Pietro Grasso, also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018.
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Salvatore Lima
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Salvatore Achille Ettore Lima, often referred to as Salvo Lima, was an Italian politician from Sicily who was associated with, and murdered by, the Sicilian Mafia. According to the pentito (Mafia defector) Tommaso Buscetta, Lima's father, Vincenzo Lima, was a member of the Mafia but it is not known whether Lima himself was a made member of Cosa Nostra. In the final report of the first Antimafia Commission (1963–1976), Lima was described as one of the pillars of Mafia power in Palermo.
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Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
- Occupations
- professoruniversity teacherpoliticiandiplomatjurist
- Biography
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Vittorio Emanuele Orlando was an Italian statesman, who served as the prime minister of Italy from October 1917 to June 1919. Orlando is best known for representing Italy in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference with his foreign minister Sidney Sonnino. He was also known as "Premier of Victory" for defeating the Central Powers along with the Entente in World War I. Italy entered into World War I in 1915 with the aim of completing national unity: for this reason, it is also considered the Fourth Italian War of Independence, in a historiographical perspective that identifies in the latter the conclusion of the unification of Italy, whose military actions began during the revolutions of 1848 with the First Italian War of Independence.
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Vito Ciancimino
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Vito Alfio Ciancimino was an Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abrasive personality, he served briefly as mayor of Palermo, Sicily, as a Christian Democrat. Ciancimino was close to Mafia boss and perennial fugitive Bernardo Provenzano, but regarded Salvatore Riina as irrational.
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Antonino Zichichi
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teachernuclear physicist
- Biography
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Antonino Zichichi is an Italian physicist who has worked in the field of nuclear physics. He has served as President of the World Federation of Scientists and as a professor at the University of Bologna.
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Renato Guttuso
- Occupations
- draftspersongraphic artistpoliticianpainterartist
- Biography
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Aldo Renato Guttuso was an Italian painter and politician. He is considered to be among the most important Italian artists of the 20th century and is among the key figures of Italian expressionism. His art is characterized by social and political commentary, and as a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) he became its senator for two legislatures, from 1976 to 1983, during Enrico Berlinguer's secretariat.
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Leoluca Orlando
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyerwritersports executive
- Biography
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Leoluca Orlando is an Italian politician. He was mayor of Palermo for over twenty years and was president of the Italian Federation of American Football (FIDAF). He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia during his mayoralty in the 1980s, which was publicly referenced in the media as the Palermo Spring (Italian: Primavera di Palermo).
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Bernardo Mattarella
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Bernardo Mattarella was an Italian politician for the Christian Democrat party (Democrazia Cristiana, DC). He was a cabinet minister of Italy several times, becoming one of the most important politicians of his generation.
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Mino Pecorelli
- Occupations
- writerjournalistlawyer
- Biography
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Carmine "Mino" Pecorelli was an Italian journalist, shot dead in Rome a year after former prime minister Aldo Moro's 1978 kidnapping and subsequent killing. He was described as a "maverick journalist with excellent secret service contacts". According to Pecorelli, Aldo Moro's kidnapping had been organized by a "lucid superpower" and was inspired by the "logic of Yalta". Pecorelli's name was on Licio Gelli's list of Propaganda Due (P2) masonic members, discovered in 1980 by the Italian police.
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Salvatore Cuffaro
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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Salvatore "Totò" Cuffaro is a former Italian politician and former President of Sicily. He has served an almost 5-year jail sentence for aiding Cosa Nostra. He has earned the nickname Vasa Vasa (Sicilian for "Kiss Kiss") for his tendency to kiss all and sundry; he says that he has kissed a quarter of all the people on the island.
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Nino Di Matteo
- Occupations
- magistrate
- Biography
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Antonino "Nino" Di Matteo is an Italian magistrate and prosecutor. Since 2012, he is serving as president of the National Magistrates Association of Palermo and from 2019 to 2023 he has been a member of the High Council of the Judiciary. Due to his anti-mafia activity, Di Matteo has been under guard since 1993.
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Antonio Ingroia
- Occupations
- prosecutorpoliticianlawyerjournalistmagistrate
- Biography
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Antonio Ingroia is an Italian lawyer, ex magistrate, politician and leader of Civil Revolution, with Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples. Ingroia is also the director of a United Nations investigation against narcotraffic in Guatemala. He is also a writer and contributes regular columns to the daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.
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Gaetano Mosca
- Occupations
- philosopherpoliticianwriterhistorianjurist
- Biography
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Gaetano Mosca COSML COCI SoK was an Italian political scientist, journalist and public servant. He is credited with developing the elite theory and the doctrine of the political class and is one of the three members constituting the Italian school of elitism together with Vilfredo Pareto and Robert Michels.
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Renato Schifani
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani is an Italian politician who has served as the president of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Schifani was Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip and was a prominent member of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2022. From 29 April 2008 to 14 March 2013, he was the president of the Senate of the Republic.
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Simonetta Agnello Hornby
- Occupations
- novelistuniversity teacherlawyerwriterjurist
- Biography
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Simonetta Agnello Hornby is an Italian novelist and food writer. Her novels are international bestsellers, translated into more than twenty languages.
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Gesualdo Bufalino
- Occupations
- writertranslatorpoetteacher
- Biography
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Gesualdo Bufalino, was an Italian writer who lived in Sicily for most of his life.
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Ugo La Malfa
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ugo La Malfa was an Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party (Partito Repubblicano Italiano; PRI).
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Caterina Chinnici
- Occupations
- magistratepolitician
- Biography
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Caterina Chinnici is an Italian magistrate and politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014.
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Giuseppe Ayala
- Occupations
- politicianmagistratejudge
- Biography
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Giuseppe Ayala is an Italian politician and magistrate.
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Rita Borsellino
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rita Borsellino was an Italian Sicilian anti-Mafia activist, politician and, between 2009 and 2014, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Democratic Party.
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Gaetano Costa
- Occupations
- magistratelawyer
- Biography
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Gaetano Costa was an Italian magistrate killed by the Cosa Nostra.
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Giorgio Mulé
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Giorgio Mulé is an Italian politician and journalist. From 1 March 2021 to 19 October 2022 he was Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in the Draghi government. In the 19th legislature he was also vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies.
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Manlio Di Stefano
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Manlio Di Stefano is an Italian politician.
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Davide Faraone
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Davide Faraone is an Italian politician who is the group leader of the Italia Viva grouping in the Senate of the Republic.
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Gabriella Giammanco
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Gabriella Giammanco is an Italian politician and journalist.
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Arturo Dominici
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Arturo Dominici was an Italian film, television and voice actor.
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Piera Aiello
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Piera Aiello is an Italian police informant and politician known for her stand against the Mafia. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. In 2019, she was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women.
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Corradino Mineo
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Corradino Mineo is an Italian journalist and politician who served as member of the Italian Senate from 2013 to 2018.
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Antonio Starabba di Rudinì
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Antonio Starrabba, Marquess of Rudinì (16 April 1839 – 7 August 1908) was an Italian statesman, Prime Minister of Italy between 1891 and 1892 and from 1896 until 1898.
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Franco Restivo
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Franco Restivo was an Italian politician.
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Giuseppe Antonio Borgese
- Occupations
- translatorjournalistpoetuniversity teacherwriter
- Biography
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Giuseppe Antonio Borgese was an Italian writer, journalist, literary critic, Germanist, poet, playwright and academic naturalized American.
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Calogero Mannino
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Calogero Antonio Mannino is an Italian politician and lawyer. He has been a member of the Christian Democracy and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats. He served in the cabinet of Prime Ministers Spadolini (1981–1982), Fanfani (1982–1983) and Andreotti (1991–1992). He was also member of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy in Legislature VII (1976–1979), Legislature VIII (1979–1983), Legislature IX (1983–1987), Legislature X (1987–1992), Legislature XI (1992–1994) and Legislature XVI and member of the Senate in Legislature XV.
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Antonino Saetta
- Occupations
- magistrate
- Biography
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Antonino Saetta was an Italian magistrate who prosecuted several high-profile cases involving organized crime in Sicily. He and his son, Stefano, were assassinated by members of the Sicilian mafia in 1988.
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Maria Perrusi
- Occupations
- model
- Biography
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Maria Perrusi is an Italian beauty queen and model. She won Miss Italia 2009.
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Ignazio Corrao
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ignazio Corrao is an independent Italian politician and he is a member of the European Parliament since 2014. Corrao was born in Rome and grew up in Alcamo, Sicily.
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Francesco Saverio Romano
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Francesco Saverio Romano is an Italian politician and lawyer. He served as the minister of agricultures in 2011 and a member of the Chamber of Deputies between 2001 and 2018.
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Renato Accorinti
- Occupations
- politicianactivist
- Biography
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Renato Accorinti is an Italian politician and activist.
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Marcella Carollo
- Enrolled in the University of Palermo
- In 1987 graduated with laurea in physics
- Occupations
- university teacherastronomer
- Biography
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C. Marcella Carollo worked as a professional astronomer for 25 years between 1994 and 2019. Her scientific career was ended by the ETH Zürich who, following accusations that she had bullied students, made her the first Professor to be dismissed at ETH Zurich in the 165 years of its history. Carollo has maintained her innocence against these accusations, publicly commenting on her case in terms that indicate "academic mobbing". The dismissal was appealed unsuccessfully to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court.
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Carlo Vizzini
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Carlo Vizzini is an Italian politician. He was involved in the corruption scandal of Tangentopoli. Vizzini was found guilty but benefited from the statute of limitations and did not serve his sentence.
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Filippo Mancuso
- Occupations
- politicianmagistratejudge
- Biography
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Filippo Mancuso was an Italian judge and politician. In 1995 he was Italy's Minister of Justice in the government of Lamberto Dini. The Italian Senate voted a motion of no confidence against him and this fact was the first time during the republican period. The left wing and Lega Nord complained about the review of the Mani pulite pool during Tangentopoli. He was elected for the first time as deputy in 1996 Italian general election with Forza Italia party and he was confirmed in the 2001 general elections. He left Forza Italia in 2002, because he was not elected to the Constitutional Court of Italy because of opposition of the left wing. Mancuso agreed with Silvio Berlusconi to nominate another person for the Supreme Court, possibly Mario Serio, but then Forza Italia denoted Romano Vaccarella, a close friend of Cesare Previti. After 2006 Mancuso retired to private life until his death
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Orso Mario Corbino
- Occupations
- politicianphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Orso Mario Corbino was an Italian physicist and politician. He is noted for his studies of the influence of external magnetic fields on the motion of electrons in metals and he discovered the Corbino effect. He served as Minister for education in 1921–1922 and as Minister for National Economy in 1923–1924. He also served as professor of the University of Messina (1905) and of the University of Rome (1908). He was also the supervisor of the Via Panisperna boys (including Enrico Fermi).
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Giovanni Pitruzzella
- Occupations
- university teacherjuristlawyer
- Biography
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Giovanni Pitruzzella is an Italian jurist and academic who has served as a Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy since 14 November 2023. He concurrently serves as a Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a position he has held since October 2018.
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Sergio D'Antoni
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
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Sergio Antonio D'Antoni is an Italian politician, syndicalist and sports manager, current President of CONI Sicilia.
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Giuseppe Alessi
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Giuseppe Alessi was an Italian politician. From 1968 to 1973 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and from 1963 to 1968 a member of the Senate. From 1947 to 1949 he was also President of Sicily.
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Pietro Tomasi della Torretta
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Pietro Paolo Tomasi, marchese della Torretta, known as Pietro Tomasi della Torretta, was an Italian politician and diplomat, and a member of the noble family of the Princes of Lampedusa. He served as President of the Senate from 20 July 1944 until his resignation on 25 June 1946.
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Gaspar Schott
- Occupations
- theologianscientistteacherphysicistmathematician
- Biography
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Gaspar Schott was a German Jesuit and scientist, specializing in the fields of physics, mathematics and natural philosophy, and known for his industry.
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Gaetano Arturo Crocco
- Occupations
- university teachermilitary flight engineerengineermilitary personnel
- Biography
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Gaetano Arturo Crocco was an Italian scientist and aeronautics pioneer, the founder of the Italian Rocket Society, and went on to become Italy's leading space scientist. He was born in Naples.
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Ignazio Messina
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ignazio Messina is an Italian lawyer and politician. He is the current leader of Italy of Values.
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Elda Pucci
- Occupations
- pediatricianpolitician
- Biography
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Elda Pucci was an Italian politician and professor.
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Adolfo Omodeo
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherhistorian
- Biography
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Adolfo Omodeo was an Italian historian and politician, who served as Minister of Public Education of the Badoglio II Cabinet.
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Diego Cammarata
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Diego Cammarata is an Italian politician.
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Francesco Paolo Cantelli
- Occupations
- university teachermathematicianeconomiststatistician
- Biography
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Francesco Paolo Cantelli was an Italian mathematician. He made contributions to celestial mechanics, probability theory, and actuarial science.
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Turi Simeti
- Occupations
- ceramicistpainterinstallation artistperformance artist
- Biography
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Turi Simeti was an Italian painter born in Alcamo, Sicily, Italy.
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Carolina Varchi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Maria Carolina Varchi is an Italian politician of Brothers of Italy who has served in the Chamber of Deputies since 2018. She was previously deputy mayor of Palermo from 2022 to 2024, and vice president of Young Italy from 2010 to 2012.
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Nicola Badalucco
- Occupations
- journalistscreenwriter
- Biography
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Nicola Badalucco was an Italian screenwriter. He has written for 38 films since 1969. He was nominated for an Academy Award at the 42nd Academy Awards in the category Original Screenplay for the film The Damned.
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Salvatore Lauricella
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Salvatore Lauricella was an Italian attorney, politician, and chairman of the Italian Socialist Party.
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Roberto Gambino
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Roberto Gambino is an Italian architect and politician.
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Aldo Rizzo
- Occupations
- magistratepolitician
- Biography
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Aldo Rizzo was an Italian politician and magistrate.
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Filippo Silvestri
- Occupations
- botanistentomologist
- Biography
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Filippo Silvestri was an Italian entomologist. He specialised in world Protura, Thysanura, Diplura and Isoptera, but also worked on Hymenoptera, Myriapoda and Italian Diptera. He is also noted for describing and naming the previously unknown order Zoraptera. In 1938 he was nominated to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the scientific academy of the Vatican.
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Giusto Catania
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Giusto Catania is an Italian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for North-West with the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (PRC), part of the European Left and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
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Pia Nalli
- Enrolled in the University of Palermo
- Studied in 1904-1910
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Pia Maria Nalli was an Italian mathematician known for her work on the summability of Fourier series, on Morera's theorem for analytic functions of several variables and for finding the solution to the Fredholm integral equation of the third kind for the first time. Her research interests ranged from algebraic geometry to functional analysis and tensor analysis; she was a speaker at the 1928 International Congress of Mathematicians.
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Giovanni Ruvolo
- Occupations
- biologistpolitician
- Biography
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Giovanni Ruvolo is an Italian biologist and politician.
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Michele Cipolla
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Michele Cipolla was an Italian mathematician, mainly specializing in number theory.
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Camillo Giardina
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Camillo Giardina was an Italian Christian Democrat politician. He was minister of health (1959–1962) in the Government of Italy.
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Davide Aiello
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Davide Aiello is a member of the Parliament of Italy. He was elected in 2018 and 2022.
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Giuseppe Bagnera
- Enrolled in the University of Palermo
- Studied in 1890
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Giuseppe Bagnera was an Italian mathematician.
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Michele De Franchis
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Michele de Franchis was an Italian mathematician, specializing in algebraic geometry. He is known for the De Franchis theorem and the Castelnuovo–de Franchis theorem.
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Raimondo Borsellino
- Occupations
- surgeonpolitician
- Biography
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Raimondo Borsellino was an Italian politician. He was born in Cattolica Eraclea, and represented the Christian Democracy in the Constituent Assembly of Italy from 1946 to 1948 and in the Chamber of Deputies from 1948 to 1958.
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Eleonora Troja
- Enrolled in the University of Palermo
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- astrophysicist
- Biography
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Eleonora Troja is an Italian astrophysicist. In 2017 she led the discovery of X-ray emission from the gravitational wave source GW170817.
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Agustina Casas Sere-Leguizamon
- Occupations
- digital artist
- Biography
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Agustina Casas Seré Leguizamon is an international award-winning digital artist. Her digital art collection "Ensueños Rioplatenses," was declared a "National Work of Tourist Interest" by the government of Uruguay, the highest artistic honor awarded by that nation (analogous to the United States National Medal of Arts). Casas was also officially declared a "Young Leader in Latin America" by the Washington, D.C.–based Inter-American Development Bank (IBD). Casas was named by the Museum of the Americas as "one of the most influential artists of 2015," and she was permanently admitted to its 100 Certified Artists Organization. Casas' work has been exhibited across the globe, including as part of Google's Project for New Media in New York and in private commissions and exhibitions by Fortune 500 companies, such as Fiat (2013) and Goodyear (2014).
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Giuseppina Fabbiano
- Enrolled in the University of Palermo
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- astrophysicistresearcher
- Biography
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Giuseppina "Pepi" Fabbiano is an American astrophysicist. She works in the High Energy Astrophysics Division, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.