Editing Romano Prodi (section)

{{Short description|Italian and international politician}}
{{redirect|Prodi|other people with the surname|Prodi (surname)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Romano Prodi
| honorific-suffix    = [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|OMRI]]
| image               = Romano Prodi 2004.jpg
| caption             = Prodi in 2004
| order               = <!-- Not used. (This convention is not used in Europe.) -->
| office              = [[President of the European Commission]]
| vicepresident       = [[Neil Kinnock]]
| term_start          = 16 September 1999
| term_end            = 21 November 2004
| predecessor         = [[Manuel Marín]]
| successor           = [[José Manuel Barroso]]
| office1             = [[Prime Minister of Italy]]
| president1          = [[Giorgio Napolitano]]
| deputy1             = {{ubl|[[Massimo D'Alema]]|[[Francesco Rutelli]]}}
| term_start1         = 17 May 2006
| term_end1           = 8 May 2008
| predecessor1        = [[Silvio Berlusconi]]
| successor1          = Silvio Berlusconi
| president2          = [[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]]
| deputy2             = [[Walter Veltroni]]
| term_start2         = 18 May 1996
| term_end2           = 21 October 1998
| predecessor2        = [[Lamberto Dini]]
| successor2          = [[Massimo D'Alema]]
| office4             = [[List of presidents of the Democratic Party (Italy)|President of the Democratic Party]]
| term_start4         = 14 October 2007
| term_end4           = 16 April 2008
| 1blankname4         = {{nowrap|Secretary}}
| 1namedata4          = [[Walter Veltroni]]
| predecessor4        = Office Created
| successor4          = [[Rosy Bindi]]
| office5             = [[Minister of Trade, Industry and Crafts (Italy)|Minister of Industry, Commerce and Crafts]]
| primeminister5      = [[Giulio Andreotti]]
| term_start5         = 25 November 1978
| term_end5           = 21 March 1979
| predecessor5        = [[Carlo Donat-Cattin]]
| successor5          = [[Franco Nicolazzi]]
| office6             = [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Member of the Chamber of Deputies]]
| term_start6         = 28 April 2006
| term_end6           = 28 April 2008
| constituency6       = [[Emilia-Romagna]]
| term_start7         = 9 May 1996
| term_end7           = 16 September 1996
| constituency7       = [[Bologna]]
| birth_name          = Romano Antonio Prodi
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1939|8|9|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Scandiano]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| resting_place       = 
| party               = [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]]<br />(1963–1994)<br />[[Italian People's Party (1994)|Italian People's Party]]<br />(1994–1996)<br />[[Independent politician|Independent]] (1996–1999, 2002–2007; since 2013)<br />[[The Democrats (Italy)|The Democrats]]<br />(1999–2002)<br />[[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]]<br />(2007–2013)
| otherparty          = [[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]]<br />(1995–2007)<br />[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]<br />(2004–2007)
| spouse              = {{marriage|Flavia Franzoni|1969|2023|end=her death}}
| children            = 2
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore]]|[[London School of Economics]]}}
| signature           = Romano Prodi signature.svg
}}

{{Romano Prodi sidebar}}
'''Romano Prodi''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|OMRI]]}} ({{IPA|it|roˈmaːno ˈprɔːdi|lang|It-Romano Prodi.ogg}}; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian [[politician]] who served as [[President of the European Commission]] from 1999 to 2004 and twice as [[Prime Minister of Italy]], from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008.<ref>[http://www.romanoprodi.it/biografia Romano Prodi – Biografia]</ref><ref>[http://www.corriere.it/politica/14_novembre_11/quegli-incarichi-mai-arrivati-prodi-premier-distacco-professore-ab88b0e8-696a-11e4-96be-d4ee9121ff4d.shtml Quegli incarichi mai arrivati a Prodi. Il premier e il distacco dal Professore]</ref> Prodi is considered the founder of the [[Italian centre-left]] and one of the most prominent figures of the [[Second Republic (Italy)|Second Republic]]. He is often nicknamed ''Il Professore'' ("The Professor") due to his academic career.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unibo.it/annuari/Annu9597/final/c4/p2/sp2/index.html |title=Il professor Romano Prodi Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri |access-date=2 May 2017 |archive-date=4 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804102854/https://www.unibo.it/annuari/annu9597/final/c4/p2/sp2/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A former professor of economics and international advisor to [[Goldman Sachs]], Prodi ran as lead candidate of [[The Olive Tree (political coalition)|The Olive Tree]] coalition, winning the [[1996 Italian general election|1996 election]] and serving as prime minister until losing a vote of confidence 1998. He was subsequently appointed President of the European Commission in 1999, serving until 2004. Following the victory of his new coalition, [[The Union (political coalition)|The Union]], over the [[House of Freedoms]] led by [[Silvio Berlusconi]], at the [[2006 Italian general election|2006 election]], Prodi became prime minister a second time. On 24 January 2008, he lost a vote of confidence in the Senate and consequently tendered his resignation as prime minister to President [[Giorgio Napolitano]]; he continued in office for almost four months for routine business until early elections were held and a new government was formed. Prodi was the first left-leaning candidate to finish first in an Italian general election since [[1921 Italian general election|1921]].

In 2007, Prodi became the founding president of the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]]. In 2008, United Nations Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]] selected Prodi as president of the [[African Union]]–United Nations peacekeeping panel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romanoprodi.it/wordpress/notizie/former-italian-prime-minister-to-head-african-union-un-peacekeeping-panel_66.html|title=Former Italian PM to head African Union-UN peacekeeping panel| date=12 September 2008|work=Romano Prodi website|access-date=29 June 2010}}</ref> Since 2021, he is serving as the United Nations [[Special Envoy]] for the [[Sahel]].