Adolfo Urso

Italian politician (born 1957)

Adolfo Urso
Urso in 2024

Minister for Business and Made in Italy
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 October 2022
Prime Minister	Giorgia Meloni
Preceded by	Giancarlo Giorgetti
President of COPASIR
In office 9 June 2021 – 12 October 2022
Preceded by	Raffaele Volpi
Succeeded by	Lorenzo Guerini
Member of the Senate of the Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 March 2018
Constituency	Veneto
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 15 April 1994 – 14 March 2013

Personal details
Born	(1957-07-12) 12 July 1957 (age 66) Padua, Italy
Political party	MSI (till 1995) AN (1995–2009) PdL (2009–2010) FLI (2010–2011) FareItalia (2011–2015) FdI (since 2015)
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome
Profession	Politician, journalist

Adolfo Urso (born 12 July 1957) is an Italian politician and journalist.

Early life and career

The son of Sicilian parents, Urso was born in Padua. After studying in Acireale and Catania, he graduated in sociology at the Sapienza University of Rome. He was a journalist for the Italian Social Movement's newspaper Secolo d'Italia, deputy director of the newspaper Roma (1991–1992), editor-in-chief of L'Italia settimanale (1993–94), and director of the magazine Charta Minuta (since 1994).

Political career

Urso was elected deputy from 1994 to 2008 as member of National Alliance first and then of The People of Freedom. He served as Deputy Minister of Productive Activities with delegation to foreign trade in the second and third governments headed by Silvio Berlusconi. As Deputy Minister, he dealt with the internationalization of companies (Law 56/2005) and presented the Italy-Syria agreement on investment protection for parliamentary ratification (Law 258/2003).

In the fourth Berlusconi government, Urso was appointed Undersecretary and subsequently Deputy Minister of Economic Development. After joining Gianfranco Fini's new party, Future and Freedom, Urso, along with other representatives Andrea Ronchi, Roberto Menia, and Antonio Buonfiglio, as well as Giuseppe Maria Reina of the Movement for Autonomy, resigned on 15 November 2010 and left the government due to the refusal by Berlusconi to resign and form a new government open to the Union of the Centre, as had been requested by Fini.^[1]

On 19 April 2011, Urso founded the association FareItalia and on 9 July 2011, together with Andrea Ronchi and Giuseppe Scalia, he definitively left Future and Freedom.^[2]^[3] In 2015, Urso joined Brothers of Italy, a party led by Giorgia Meloni, and in 2018 was elected senator into its lists.^[4] In April 2024, Urso, as an industry minister, met with representatives of Uber to discuss the company's position in the country. This was followed by protests from a taxi driver labour union in May 2024.^[5]

References

^ Governo, Berlusconi a caccia di voti Fli: dimissioni e reincarico in 72 ore
^ Fli perde ancora pezzi: via Urso, Ronchi e Scalia "Alfano ci ha convinti"
^ Fli: Ronchi, Urso e Scalia lasciano il partito
^ Elezioni politiche 2018, gli eletti in Veneto
^ Kazmin, Amy; Ricozzi, Giuliana. "Italian taxi drivers' strike raises pressure on Giorgia Meloni government". www.ft.com. Retrieved 26 May 2024.