Letizia Brichetto Arnaboldi Moratti is the Mayor of the City of Milan, elected on May 28th 2006.
Under Mayor Moratti’s leadership, and owing to her determination to build on the spirit of unity that defined the City after the international campaign, Milan won the bid to host the Universal Exposition to be held in 2015.
Born in Milan on November 26th 1949 from a family of Genoese descent, Letizia Brichetto Arnaboldi Moratti, after two degrees in Political Sciences and Educational and Training Sciences, has become one of the world’s leading business women, with longstanding international experience in finance, insurance and risk management, communication services and new media.
In the early 1990s, as Vice-President of the “Federazione del Terziario Avanzato” (Advanced Services Federation), she empowered the development of the organisation, which nowadays gathers more than 500,000 people working in the fields of information science, advertising and direct marketing.
As President (1988-1991) of the “Associazione Italiana Brokers di Assicurazioni Riassicurazione” (Italian Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Association), she launched the non-profit project “Ricerca Sistemi Pubblica Amministrazione” (Public Administration Systems Research), through which Italy’s main industrial groups contribute with surveys, assistance and support to the Italian government.
Mrs. Moratti was also Vice-President of UNI - Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione (Italian National Unification Body), an organisation which sets and certifies industrial quality standards. Since 1998 she has been a member of the Advisory Committee in the World Intellectual Property Organization, a dedicated UN agency.
She was President of RAI, the Italian broadcasting company, from 1994 to 1996 – the first woman to attain RAI’s presidency. During her tenure, RAI experienced a radical internal reorganisation and boosted its production, overcoming former losses and making significant profit.
As President and Managing Director of News Corp Europe, from November 1998 to September 1999, she created the European expansion plan for this group, headed by Rupert Murdoch. Among the goals reached were News Corp Europe’s introduction in the Italian market and its strengthening in the German market. During this time, she was also member of the board of News Corporation Ltd USA and of Britain's BSkyB television network.
Already deeply involved in civic affairs, she officially entered public life in 2001, when she was appointed Minister for Education, University and Scientific Research, a post that she held until 2006.
On May 28th of the same year she became Mayor of Milan, the first woman to have ever been elected to represent the Italian business capital, with over 52% of votes.
After having headed an international campaign for two years, on March 31st 2008 Mrs. Moratti won the bid for the Universal Exposition, to be held in Milan in 2015. In April 2008 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appointed her Governmental Extraordinary Commissioner for Expo 2015 and President of the Expo 2015 Steering Committee.
Among the international awards that Mrs. Moratti received during her career, she was presented with the “Légion d'honneur”, the highest French decoration, in January 2008. In May of the same year she received two degrees Honoris Causa: one in Political Science from Paisii Hilendarski University in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and one in Public Services from John Cabot University, United States. In addition, she was awarded Citizenship of Colombia in April 2009 by the President of the Colombian Republic, Alvaro Uribe, during his State Visit in Italy. She has also been awarded Honorary Citizenship of Seoul, South Korea, Banjul, Gambia, and Dajabon, Dominican Republic. A member of the steering committee of Rainbow - the International Association Against Drugs – since 1996, she was also appointed Ambassador of the United Nations against Drug and Crime in March 2000.
Mayor Letizia Brichetto Arnaboldi Moratti is married to oil magnate Gianmarco Moratti and is the mother of two children, Gabriele and Gilda.