Matteo Renzi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matteo Renzi
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Renzi in 2015
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| Prime Minister of Italy | |
| In office 22 February 2014 – 12 December 2016 |
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| President | Giorgio Napolitano Sergio Mattarella |
| Preceded by | Enrico Letta |
| Succeeded by | Paolo Gentiloni |
| President of Italia Viva | |
| Assumed office 23 December 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Secretary of the Democratic Party | |
| In office 7 May 2017 – 12 March 2018 |
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| Deputy | Maurizio Martina |
| Preceded by | Matteo Orfini |
| Succeeded by | Maurizio Martina |
| In office 15 December 2013 – 19 February 2017 |
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| Deputy | Lorenzo Guerini Debora Serracchiani |
| Preceded by | Guglielmo Epifani |
| Succeeded by | Matteo Orfini |
| Member of the Senate of the Republic | |
| Assumed office 23 March 2018 |
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| Constituency | Florence (2018–22) Campania (2022–) |
| Mayor of Florence | |
| In office 22 June 2009 – 24 March 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Leonardo Domenici |
| Succeeded by | Dario Nardella |
| President of the Province of Florence | |
| In office 14 June 2004 – 22 June 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Michele Gesualdi |
| Succeeded by | Andrea Barducci |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 January 1975 Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
| Political party | PPI (1996–2002) DL (2002–2007) PD (2007–2019) IV (since 2019) |
| Spouse |
Agnese Landini
(m. 1999) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Signature |  |
Matteo Renzi (born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician. He served as the prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has also been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi leads the Italia Viva (IV) party since 2019. Before that, he was the leader of the Democratic Party (PD) from 2013 to 2018.
Before becoming prime minister, Renzi was the president of the province of Florence from 2004 to 2009. He then became the mayor of Florence from 2009 to 2014. In 2013, he was chosen as the leader of the PD. The next year, he became prime minister at 39 years old. This made him the youngest prime minister in Italy's history.
While in power, Renzi's government made many changes. These included new laws for elections and jobs. They also worked to improve public services. His government also allowed same-sex civil unions. After a public vote rejected his plan to change the constitution in 2016, Renzi resigned as prime minister. He later left the Democratic Party and started his own party, Italia Viva.
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Early Life and Education
Matteo Renzi was born in Florence, Italy, on 11 January 1975. He was the second of four children. His family was Catholic and lived in Rignano sull'Arno. His father, Tiziano Renzi, owned a small business. He was also a local politician.
Matteo went to high school in Florence. He was almost expelled for criticizing a teacher in the school newspaper. During his school years, he was a Scout. In 1999, he finished his law degree at the University of Florence.
After university, Renzi worked for his family's marketing company. He also worked as an association football referee at an amateur level. He even appeared on a TV game show called La Ruota Della Fortuna (Italy's Wheel of Fortune) and won a lot of money.
Starting in Politics
Renzi became interested in politics during high school. In 1996, he helped support Romano Prodi for prime minister. That same year, Renzi joined the Italian People's Party. He became a local leader for the party in 1999. He married Agnese Landini in 1999, and they later had three children.
In 2004, Renzi was elected president of the province of Florence. He was only 29, making him the youngest person to hold this job in Italy. As president, he worked to reduce taxes and cut down on government employees.
Mayor of Florence
After five years, Renzi decided to run for mayor of Florence. In 2009, he won the election. As mayor, he made several changes to the city. He cut the number of city council members in half. He also added 500 free WiFi spots around the city. He worked to reduce waiting lists for kindergartens and spent more on social programs and schools.
In 2010, Renzi held a public meeting in Florence to talk about Italian politics. He believed that big changes were needed. The Italian media then gave him the nickname il rottamatore, which means "The Scrapper" or "The Wrecker." This nickname showed his desire to get rid of old ways in politics.
In 2012, Renzi announced he wanted to lead the center-left political group for the next national election. He ran against other politicians, including Pier Luigi Bersani. Renzi came in second place in the first vote. He lost to Bersani in the final vote.
Leading the Democratic Party
After the 2013 election, the leader of the Democratic Party (PD), Pier Luigi Bersani, resigned. Renzi then decided to run for the party's top job. Many people supported him because he was young and seen as an outsider. In the 2013 PD leadership election, Renzi won with 68% of the votes. He became the new leader of the Democratic Party.
After Renzi became party leader, there were rumors that he wanted to become prime minister. The current Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, asked Renzi to make his plans clear. Renzi then called a meeting of the PD leaders. He asked Letta to resign so he could form a new government. Letta resigned on 14 February 2014.
Prime Minister of Italy (2014–2016)
On 17 February 2014, President Giorgio Napolitano asked Renzi to form a new government. Renzi held talks with leaders from different parties. He even broadcast these talks live online. On 21 February, he announced his new government, called the Renzi Cabinet. It included members from several parties.
Renzi's cabinet was the youngest government in Italy's history, with an average age of 47. It was also the first time that the number of female ministers was equal to the number of male ministers. On 22 February, Renzi officially became prime minister. He was the youngest prime minister in Italy's history. His rise was seen as a sign of a new generation in politics.
Changes in Italy
Job Market and Economy
When Renzi became prime minister, he wanted to change Italy's labour market laws. He aimed to make it easier for businesses to hire and fire workers. This was meant to help the Italian economy grow. In March 2014, his government introduced a plan called the Jobs Act. This plan aimed to create more jobs. However, some major worker unions did not agree with these changes.
In September 2014, the government pushed for the Jobs Act. This law would change how workers were protected from being fired. Many unions and some members of Renzi's own party disagreed. Despite this, the law was approved by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In October 2014, nearly a million people protested in Rome against these changes.
In 2014, Renzi's government also sold many expensive government cars, including Maseratis and Jaguars. They even sold some on eBay. In April 2014, Renzi changed the leaders of Italy's biggest state-owned companies. He appointed women to most of these new positions. This was the first time women led state-owned companies in Italy.
His government also introduced the "Renzi bonus." This was a monthly payment of €80 for people earning less than €1,500 a month. The goal was to encourage people to spend more money. In August 2014, Renzi launched a plan called "Unblock Italy." This plan aimed to speed up big building projects and simplify government rules.
Changing the Constitution and Elections
One of Renzi's main goals was to change Italy's constitution. He wanted to make the government more stable. Italy had a system where both parts of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, had equal power. Renzi wanted to reduce the power of the Senate. This would make it easier and faster to pass laws.
Under his plan, the Senate would have fewer members (from 315 to 100). These members would be regional leaders and mayors, not directly elected by citizens. The Senate would also have less power to stop new laws.
Renzi also proposed a new voting system called Italicum. This system aimed to give the winning party enough votes to form a strong government. To get this law passed, Renzi worked with Silvio Berlusconi, a former prime minister. This agreement was called the Nazareno Pact. Some people in Renzi's party did not like this deal.
The changes to the Senate and the new voting law were approved by Parliament. However, because the constitutional changes did not get a very large majority, a public vote (a constitutional referendum) was needed. Renzi said he would resign if the public rejected his changes.
Immigration Challenges
During Renzi's time as prime minister, Italy faced a big challenge with illegal immigration. Many people arrived by boat from countries like Libya and Syria, which were experiencing civil wars. In 2014, over 170,000 migrants arrived by sea. This led to criticism from some political parties in Italy.
Renzi's government approved a law to protect migrants. Italy also ran a rescue operation called Operation Mare Nostrum. Later, this was replaced by a European Union operation called Operation Triton.
Social Initiatives
Renzi's government also focused on education. They introduced a "schools package" to improve hiring for teachers. This aimed to hire teachers based on their skills and to increase teachers for children with disabilities.
In 2014, Renzi announced that Rome would try to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. He said it would be a great thing for Italy's future and for kids. However, in 2016, the mayor of Rome decided to withdraw the bid. She said it would be too expensive for the city.
Earthquakes in 2016
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In August 2016, a strong earthquake hit Central Italy. It killed 298 people and left thousands without homes. Renzi appointed a special commissioner to help with rebuilding. Two more large earthquakes hit the same area in October 2016. These quakes caused even more damage and left many more people homeless.
Foreign Relations
As prime minister, Renzi dealt with many international issues. These included the European debt crisis and conflicts in Libya and the Middle East. He became good friends with US President Barack Obama. Italy also supported the fight against the Islamic State group.
Renzi also had a good relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. In Europe, he worked closely with French President François Hollande.
After Being Prime Minister (2016–present)
After losing the constitutional referendum in December 2016, Renzi resigned as prime minister. However, he remained the leader of the Democratic Party (PD). He supported the new government led by Paolo Gentiloni, who had been his foreign minister.
In February 2017, Renzi stepped down as party leader but was re-elected in April. After the PD had poor results in the 2018 Italian general election, Renzi resigned as leader for good in March 2018.
In September 2019, Renzi left the PD and started a new liberal party called Italia Viva (IV). He played a big part in forming a new government between the PD and the Five Star Movement in 2019. This government was led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
In early 2021, Renzi's party withdrew its support for Conte's government. This caused the government to fall. Later, Renzi's party supported a new government led by Mario Draghi.
Political Beliefs
Matteo Renzi's political ideas are often described as a mix of liberalism and populism. He has been compared to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US President Bill Clinton. Renzi supports the idea of the Third Way, which tries to combine economic freedom with social policies that help people.
Renzi supports recognizing civil unions for same-sex couples. He also supports stepchild adoptions, which means allowing a parent to adopt their partner's child from a previous relationship. For these views, he has been criticized by groups who oppose same-sex unions.
Personal Life
In 1999, Renzi married Agnese Landini, who is a teacher. They have three children: two sons, Francesco and Emanuele, and a daughter, Ester. The Renzi family goes to Mass regularly and are active in the Italian Catholic Scouts. Besides Italian, Renzi can also speak French and some English. He loves football and supports ACF Fiorentina, the team from his hometown of Florence.
Since 2018, Matteo Renzi has given many speeches, especially in the Gulf countries. He has earned a lot of money from these speaking engagements. In 2020, he joined the board of a think tank in Saudi Arabia. In 2022, he said he was a close friend and advisor to Mohammed bin Salman.
Elections
2014 European Parliament Election
In the 2014 European Parliament election on 25 May 2014, Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) won a big victory. They received 40.8% of the votes. This made them the largest party in Italy and the largest single party in the entire European Union. This strong result helped Renzi get his Foreign Minister, Federica Mogherini, appointed to an important role in the European Union.
2015 Italian Presidential Election
In January 2015, President Giorgio Napolitano retired. Renzi supported Sergio Mattarella, a judge, to become the new president. Even though some politicians, like Silvio Berlusconi, were against Mattarella, Renzi's plan worked. Mattarella was elected president with a strong majority of votes.
2016 Constitutional Referendum
Renzi decided to hold a public vote, a constitutional referendum, on 4 December 2016. This vote was about his plan to change the constitution and reduce the power of the Senate. The reform would have made the Senate smaller and changed how its members were chosen. Renzi had promised to resign if the public voted "No."
When the results came in, the "No" side had clearly won. Renzi accepted defeat and resigned as prime minister.
2018 Italian General Election
The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March. Renzi led a center-left group of parties. However, his group came in third place. No single party or group won enough votes to form a government easily. On 5 March, Renzi announced that his party would be in opposition. He resigned as party leader on 12 March.
Images for kids
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Trade union protesters demonstrate near the Colosseum against Renzi's labour market reforms
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Number of immigrants arriving by boat in Italy from 1997 to 2016
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Rubble in the town centre of Amatrice, 2016
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Official trips made by Renzi as Prime Minister of Italy
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Renzi with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni during the swearing-in ceremony
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Renzi speaking at Lingotto convention
In Spanish: Matteo Renzi para niños
