Famous Italian Leaders
Think of Italy and the first thing that strikes the mind is its enchanting beauty, picturesque landscape, magnificent art, rich culture and heritage, vibrant history and lip-smacking cuisine! But there is more to Italy that what meets the eye – Italian leaders! One of the most charming and hardworking people in the world, Italian leaders are recognized for their wit, intelligence and charisma. Much of the credit for safeguarding the country’s unique blend of mesmerizing past and effervescent present goes to its leaders who have helped maintain a balance and created a niche of distinctiveness for Italy in the world over. According to the Constitution of Italy, the country is ruled by elected representatives. The Prime Minister is the executive head of the country, while the role of the President is largely ceremonial. Italy has had numerous leaders since 1861, but few of them have left a lasting imprint on the minds of the people in Italy and abroad. Alcide de Gasperi, Aldo Moro, Giovanni Spadolinni, Mario Monti, Giorgio Napolitano, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi are some of Italian leaders who have contributed to the country’s growth and advancement. Given in this section are the details about life and works of famous Italian leaders.
Vote for Your Favourite Italian Leaders
Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
Birthdate: April 26, 0121
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: March 17, 0180
Marcus Aurelius played an important role in the Roman Empire. A Stoic philosopher, Marcus was part of the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana—a 200-year-long period of relative peace in the Roman Empire. Also a writer, his work Meditations is regarded by many as one of the greatest works of philosophy.
2
Giuseppe Garibaldi(Italian General Who Contributed to Italian Unification and the Creation of the Kingdom of Italy)
Birthdate: July 4, 1807
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Nice, France
Died: June 2, 1882
Italian general, patriot, and republican Giuseppe Garibaldi is remembered for the role he played in the Italian unification and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland." A highly proficient military general, he also led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf of Victor Emmanuel II. He died in 1882.
Birthdate: January 1, 1449
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: April 8, 1492
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman. Nicknamed Lorenzo the Magnificent, de' Medici was the most enthusiastic and powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. He is credited with providing sponsorships to artists like Michelangelo and Botticelli, thereby contributing indirectly to the development of art in the Republic of Florence. His life and work inspired a couple of TV series.
4
Cosimo de' Medici(He Established the Medici Family as Effective Rulers of Florence During Much of the Italian Renaissance)
Birthdate: April 10, 1389
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: August 1, 1464
One of the main patriarchs of the famed Medici family that ruled Florence, Italian banker Cosimo de' Medici was one of the richest men of his time. Medici was also a great patron of art and architecture. He also arranged a search for ancient manuscripts and opened a public library.
5
Antonio Gramsci(Italian Philosopher Best Known for His Theory of 'Cultural Hegemony')
Birthdate: January 22, 1891
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Ales, Italy
Died: April 27, 1937
Antonio Gramsci was an Italian politician, journalist, philosopher, linguist, and writer. A founding member of the Communist Party of Italy, Gramsci went on to serve as the leader of the party before he was arrested by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime. Since his death, Antonio Gramsci has been the subject of several plays and films.
6
Georg von Trapp
(Naval officer)
Birthdate: April 4, 1880
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Zadar, Croatia
Died: May 30, 1947
Georg von Trapp, or Captain von Trapp, was an Austrian naval officer who led the Trapp Family Singers, the family that inspired the play and the film The Sound of Music. An able military man, he had also been part of World War II and was knighted by the Austrian government.
Birthdate: May 24, 0015
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: October 10, 0019
Germanicus Julius Caesar, son of Nero Claudius and Antonia the Younger, was a Roman general. He was known for his chiseled physique and his military prowess. He took over the provinces of Cappadocia and Commagene, and also proceeded to fight against the governor of Syria, before he died of poisoning.
8
Giorgia Meloni
(Politician)
Birthdate: January 15, 1977
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Birthdate: March 9, 1973
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Matteo Salvini, or The Captain, is known for his staunch right-wing ideology. The former deputy prime minister of Italy is against illegal immigration and believes in the motto “Prima gli italiani,” or “Italians first.” Part of Lega, a rebranded version of Umberto Bossi’s Lega Nord, Salvini is a prominent Eurosceptic.
10
Ilona Staller(Hungarian Former Pornographic Actress and Member of the Chamber of Deputies (1987 - 1992))
Birthdate: November 26, 1951
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
Ilona Staller is a former porn star, singer, and politician. She achieved popularity by appearing in Telefono rosso, the first Italian hardcore pornography production, and then went on to pose nude in Playboy's editions around the world. In 1980, an erotic series titled La Cicciolina was made based on Ilona Staller's life and career.
Birthdate: January 11, 1975
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Florence
Italia Viva party leader and the youngest-ever Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, was named one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers. He was criticized by many for meeting controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In early 2021, he received bullets in an envelope, causing a media frenzy.
12
Marcus Junius Brutus
(Former Politician most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar)
Birthdate: 0085 AD
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: October 23, 0042
Birthdate: September 29, 1936
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Milan
Died: June 12, 2023
Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi served as the Italian prime minister for 9 years. Owner of the media groups Mediaset and Fininvest, and former owner of A.C. Milan, he also launched the first Italian private TV channel, Telemilano. Despite a conviction for tax fraud, he became a European Parliament MP later.
14
Mario Draghi
(Economist, Banker, University teacher)
Birthdate: September 3, 1947
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Rome
The son of a banker father, Italian economist Mario Draghi initially served as the president of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Italy governor, and is the current prime minister of Italy. The media named him Super Mario for efficiently handling the Eurozone debt crisis.
Birthdate: October 3, 0085
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: October 3, 0042
The last of the Romans, Gaius Cassius Longinus was the main conspirator in the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar. When Brutus was made the praetor urbanus by Caesar, Cassius was angered and thus plotted revenge. Following the murder, he left for Syria, but committed suicide after losing to Mark Antony.
16
Giuseppe Mazzini(Italian Politician, Activist and Champion of the Movement for Italian Unity)
Birthdate: June 22, 1805
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Died: March 10, 1872
Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian journalist, politician, and activist. He played a major role in the Italian revolutionary movement and in the unification of Italy. His efforts gave rise to an independent and unified Italy, which replaced many separate states that were dominated by foreign powers. Mazzini is widely regarded as the most influential European revolutionary.
17
Gabriele Amorth
(Catholic priest, Writer, Theologian)
Birthdate: May 1, 1925
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Modena
Died: September 16, 2016
Exorcist and Catholic priest Gabriele Amorth had been in charge of countless exorcisms in his career of over 6 decades. The founder-president of the International Association of Exorcists, he had also penned a few books on his experiences as an exorcist and had been part of World War II, too.
18
Andrea Agnelli
(Entrepreneur, Businessperson)
Birthdate: December 6, 1975
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Turin
19
Aldo Moro
(Politician, Diplomat, University teacher)
Birthdate: September 23, 1916
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Maglie
Died: May 9, 1978
Christian Democracy member Aldo Moro had served as the Italian prime minister and had also held important portfolios such as foreign affairs and public education. He was also a University of Bari professor of law, initially. He was abducted and killed by left-wing terrorists known as The Red Brigades.
20
Flavius Aëtius
(Roman General during the Last Years of the Western Roman Empire)
Birthdate: 0391 AD
Birthplace: Silistra
Died: September 21, 0454
Roman general Flavius Aëtius, also known as the Last of the Romans, was a Roman general during the final years of the Western Roman Empire. He had a huge influence over Emperor Valentinian III. He resisted Attila’s invasion in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. He was eventually assassinated by Valentinian.
21
Philip the Arab
(Political figure)
Birthdate: 0204 AD
Birthplace: Shahba
Died: 0249 AD
Birthdate: 1348 AD
Birthplace: Montpellier, France
Died: August 16, 1379
Saint Roch, or Rocco, the 14th-century saint from Montpellier, had taken care of victims of the Black Death in Italy. Having fallen prey to the same disease, he was rescued by a dog in a forest. The illness changed his appearance and caused him to be imprisoned for being an imposter.
23
Giuseppe Conte
(Politician)
Birthdate: August 8, 1964
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Volturara Appula, Apulia, Italy
Former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte is a qualified lawyer and teaches law at various universities. He was one of the few Italian prime ministers to have held office without any previous political experience. He was also the first Western leader to impose a national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
24
Gabriele D'Annunzio
(Former Member of Italian Chamber of Deputies (1897-1900))
Birthdate: March 12, 1863
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pescara, Italy
Died: March 1, 1938
Known for literary works like Il Piacere and La Gioconda, Italian journalist, poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio dominated the second period of Italian Decadentism. He became a national war hero during the First World War. His political endeavours include establishing and leading the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro in Fiume. He is often described as the forerunner of Italian fascism.
25
Alessandra Mussolini
(Member of the European Parliament (2004 - 2008, 2014 - 2019))
Birthdate: December 30, 1962
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Alessandra Mussolini is an Italian former politician and former actress. The granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, she is a former member of the Chamber of Deputies and the Italian Senate. She was the leader of the national conservative political party Social Action as well. Prior to joining politics, she was a model and actress in the 1970s and 1980s.
26
Federica Mogherini
(Politician)
Birthdate: June 16, 1973
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
27
Beppe Grillo(Italian Actor, Comedian and Co-Founder of the ‘Five Star Movement’ Political Party)
Birthdate: July 21, 1948
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Beppe Grillo is an Italian actor, comedian, politician, and blogger. The co-founder of a political party called Five Star Movement, Grillo turned to the internet in the early-2000s to popularize his ideas. After launching a website called beppegrillo.it, which became an influential website, he started writing influential blogs, which made him a leading Italian popularizer of digital utopianism.
Birthdate: July 6, 1986
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Avellino, Italy
While Luigi Di Maio had studied both engineering and jurisprudence, he dropped out of university to take up odd jobs. A co-founder of the Friends of Beppe Grillo group, which later took the shape of the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement, Di Maio is the incumbent Italian foreign affairs minister.
29
Gannicus
(Celtic Slave and Gladiator Who Led a Slave Rebellion)
Birthplace: Unknown
Died: 0071 AD
A 1st century BC Celtic slave, Gannicus led a slave rebellion during the Third Servile War. Known for his valiant fights as a gladiator, he took away a large chunk of slaves when he broke off from Thracian gladiator and fellow slave leader Spartacus. He was eventually defeated in the Battle of Cantenna.
30
Pietro Badoglio
(Former Minister of Italian Africa)
Birthdate: September 28, 1871
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Grazzano Badoglio, Italy
Died: November 1, 1956
Initially an artillery officer, Pietro Badoglio served as a general during the two World Wars. He eventually signed an armistice with the Allies to withdraw Italian forces from World War II. He eventually served as the prime minister of Italy and was also the 1st Duke of Addis Abeba.
Birthdate: July 23, 1941
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Palermo, Kingdom of Italy
Sergio Mattarella is an Italian politician, academic, jurist, and lawyer. He is the current president of the Italian Republic. Before becoming the president of Italy, Mattarella served as the Minister for Parliamentary Relations. He also served as the Minister of Public Education and as the Italian Minister of Defence.
Birthdate: May 9, 1892
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Tuscany, Italy
Died: March 14, 1989
33
Rodolfo Graziani
(Italian Military Officer & a Loyal Supporter of Benito Mussolini)
Birthdate: August 11, 1882
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Filettino, Italy
Died: January 11, 1955
Italian military officer Rodolfo Graziani commanded Italy’s Regio Esercito, or Royal Army. He was a fascist figure who held significant political posts under the monarchy of Victor Emmanuel III and then under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Known for his campaigns in Africa during World War II, he escaped imprisonment for his war crimes.
34
Publius Quinctilius Varus
(Roman general)
Birthdate: 0046 BC
Birthplace: Cremona
Died: 0009 AD
Roman general Publius Quinctilius Varus had also been made the governor of Africa. Working under Roman emperor Augustus, he lost three Roman legions to the Germanic tribes of Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and eventually committed suicide by falling upon his sword.
35
Pontius Pilatus
(The Governor of Judaea Who Ordered Jesus's Crucifixion)
Birthplace: Abruzzo, Italy
Died: 0039 AD
The 5th governor or prefect of the Roman province Judaea, under Roman Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilatus is remembered as the one who officiated the trial of Jesus Christ and ordered his crucifixion. He apparently persecuted Jews and eventually killed himself on the orders of the new emperor Caligula.
36
Enrico Dandolo
(Doge of Venice 1192 – 1205)
Birthdate: 1107 AD
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: April 30, 1205
37
Giorgio Napolitano
(Politician)
Birthdate: June 29, 1925
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Naples
38
Virginia Raggi
(Politician, Lawyer)
Birthdate: July 18, 1978
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Italian lawyer Virginia Raggi made history when she became the first female mayor of Rome. A champion of women’s rights, she also prioritizes climate change issues and is concerned about de-congesting her city. A Five Star Movement member, she withdrew Rome’s 2024 Olympic bid, stating Rome would’ve been in debt otherwise.
Birthdate: July 2, 0419
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Ravenna
Died: March 16, 0455
40
Prince Henry of Battenberg
(Prince)
Birthdate: October 5, 1858
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: January 20, 1896
Prince Henry of Battenberg was a morganatic descendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse. He was the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by the Rhine, and his wife, Countess Julia von Hauke. He married Queen Victoria's youngest child, Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, and became a member of the British Royal Family.
41
Numa Pompilius
(Political figure)
Birthdate: April 21, 0753
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Cures
Died: 0673 BC
Birthdate: 0430 AD
Birthplace: Roman Italy
Died: May 9, 0480
Birthdate: 0420
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Died: August 7, 0461
44
Catiline
(Political leader)
Birthdate: 0108 BC
Birthplace: Rome
Died: 0062 BC
45
Isabella d'Este
(Political Figure)
Birthdate: May 19, 1474
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Ferrara, Italy
Died: February 13, 1539
46
Benito Mussolini(Dictator of Italy and Principal Founder of Fascism Who Was Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 to 1943.)
Birthdate: July 29, 1883
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Predappio, Italy
Died: April 28, 1945
The dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945, Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in 1919. It opposed class discrimination and supported nationalism. But when in power, Mussolini crushed rival political parties, trade unions, free press and free speech. He was overthrown by his former colleagues in the Fascist government in July 1943 and ultimately shot dead in April 1945.
Birthdate: March 18, 1903
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Livorno, Italy
Died: January 11, 1944
48
Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence
(Duke)
Birthdate: July 22, 1510
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: January 6, 1537
49
Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
(Duke)
Birthdate: May 24, 1671
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy
Died: July 9, 1737
50
Marta Fascina
(Politician)
Birthdate: January 9, 1990
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Melito di Porto Salvo, Italy