New Delhi: Giorgia Meloni often grabs global attention through her high-profile meetings with world leaders. Whether it was a selfie with Narendra Modi that triggered the #Melodi trend online or moments with leaders such as Donald Trump and Albania’s prime minister, Meloni’s diplomacy frequently becomes social media conversation.
However, her political journey is far more remarkable than the viral moments.
Born on January 15, 1977, in Rome, Meloni had a difficult childhood. In her autobiography Io Sono Giorgia (I Am Giorgia), she revealed that her mother had initially considered abortion before deciding against it at the last moment.
Her father, Francesco, left the family when she was just one year old and later moved to Spain’s Canary Islands, where he remarried. Meloni and her sister Arianna were raised by their mother, Anna, a novelist.
The family also survived a devastating house fire during Meloni’s childhood, after which they reportedly struggled financially for years.
Due to economic hardships, Meloni could not attend college. She worked multiple jobs, including babysitting, selling CDs and serving as a bartender at Rome’s famous Piper Club nightclub.
In a 2013 interview, Meloni said she learned more about life “behind a bar counter than in Parliament.”
Meloni entered politics at the age of 15 by joining the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a far-right political party formed by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini after World War II.
She later said her political awakening came after the 1992 assassination of anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino in a bomb attack carried out by the mafia.
In 1995, MSI was restructured into the more mainstream conservative party National Alliance under the leadership of Gianfranco Fini. By 1997, Meloni had become head of the party’s youth wing in Rome.
On October 25, 2022, Meloni created history by becoming Italy’s first woman prime minister, completing a political rise that began in hardship and activism decades earlier.
