Date of birth: March 9, 1948
Birthplace: Bra (Piedmont)
Education: Degree in foreign languages and literature, Bocconi University, Milan
history
A career politician belonging to the gadfly Radical Party who transformed her penchant for protest into political clout, Bonino is one of few Italian political figures to score important achievements both at home and internationally. A former European Commissioner of Consumer rights she won exposure in a role she owed to centre-right coalition leader Silvio Berlusconi at the time of his 1994 term as prime minister. While commissioner, Bonino forged the EU's consumer protection policy, created the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) as well as a bureau to regulate the European commercial fishing sector.
First elected to European Parliament in 1979, Bonino was re-elected in
1984 and once again after her stint on the European Commission in 1999,
a contest accompanied by great clamour following her unsuccessful bid
to become Italy's candidate for European Competittion (or Antitrust) Commissioner,
a post which went instead to former Bocconi rector, eocnomist Mario Monti.
On the Italian front, Bonino has a long history of championing social
causes which dates back to the founding of a center for information on
contraception and abortion in the mid-seventies, at which time she was
arrested on several counts of arranging abortions for third parties. Elected
on the Radical ticket as a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies from
1976 until 1995, she participated in various sit-ins and hunger strikes
together with veteran Radical Party leader Marco Pannella..
Much was made of her candidacy for president of the Italian Republic in 1999, a figure elected by the Italian parliament, but not enough for her to defeat the heavily favoured ultimate winner, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Bonino is known for her intense determination with regard to many social and political issues.
The subjects currently dearest to her include civil rights, legalisation of drugs, capital punishment and the status of women in Taleban-ruled Afganistan. In the past she was an active campaigner in Italy for the introduction of divorce and legal abortions