Bondi, Sandro

Sandro Bondi was born on May 14, 1959 in Fivizzano, the only son of mason Renzo Bondi (1931-2011) and housewife Maria Bertoli. About ten years as a child, he lived with his family in Switzerland and recalled the signs later seen on the cafe door: "Visitors with dogs and Italians are not allowed." In his own words, imbued with a religious sense of social justice, he was an ardent admirer of Enrico Berlinguera . On his return from Switzerland, Renzo bought a house in Gassano, a faction of the Fivizzano commune, and opened a bar in this city. Sandro studied at the Lyceum of Leonardo da Vinci in Villafranca in Lunigiana , in 1975 became the secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation ( FGCI ) in Lunigiana , and in 1984 he graduated from the University of Pisa , where he studied philosophy (wrote a thesis on Savonarola ). In 1990, he was elected mayor of Fivizzano from the Communist Party , but already in 1992 the city power passed to a coalition of socialists and Christian democrats . Having met with Berlusconi , in 1994 Bondi became his secretary and joined his party Forward, Italy , in which from 2005 to 2008 he held the position of national coordinator. Together with the party he joined the People of Freedom , but on May 22, 2012, after the party failed in the local elections, he resigned from the post of national coordinator ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

In 2001 and 2006, Bondi was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the XIV and XV convocations on the list of the Forward Italy Party ^[4] .

In 2008, Bondi was elected to the Senate of the 16th convocation and was a member of the Freedom People’s faction ^[5] , and from May 8, 2008 to March 23, 2011 he was Minister of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Activities in the fourth government of Berlusconi ^[6] . He resigned from the ministerial post ahead of schedule due to a series of scandals - at the 67th Venice Film Festival in 2010 he awarded the Action for Women award, which he ordered as Minister, Bulgarian actress Dragomira Boneva , known under the Italian pseudonym Michelle Bonev (the press considered Boneva to be related with Prime Minister Berlusconi). Another blow to the Minister of Culture was the collapse of the gladiatorial barracks in Pompeii ^[7] . In 2013, he was elected to the Senate of the XVII convocation, where he first joined the Freedom People’s faction and then re-created Forward, Italy , and left the party on March 30, 2015, in which he held the post of administrator until May 20, 2014 (in this position he was replaced by Maria Rosaria Rossi ), and transferred to the Senate Mixed Faction ^{[8] [9]} .

In 2009, Bondi divorced Gabriella Podestà, a relationship with whom he had begun while studying at the Lyceum, since then he has been in constant relations with entrepreneur and Senator . There is a son from Gabriela Podesta - Francesco ^[1] .

• Adriano Botta. 'Mio marito Bondi mi picchiava' (Italian) . L'Espresso . la Repubblica (29 luglio 2010). Date of treatment April 7, 2015.