Adriana Poli Bortone

Adriana Poli Bortone (born 25 August 1943) is an Italian politician who was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2008.^[1] She represented Southern Italy. She was mayor of Lecce from 1998 to 2007 and since 2024.^[2]

Adriana Poli Bortone
Mayor of Lecce
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 June 2024
Preceded by	Carlo Salvemini
In office 25 May 1998 – 28 May 2007
Preceded by	Stefano Salvemini
Succeeded by	Paolo Perrone
Minister of Agriculture
In office 10 May 1994 – 17 January 1995
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Alfredo Luigi Diana
Succeeded by	Walter Luchetti
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office 29 April 2008 – 14 March 2013
Constituency	Apulia
Member of the European Parliament
In office 20 July 1999 – 28 April 2008
Constituency	Southern Italy
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 12 July 1983 – 14 April 1999
Constituency	Lecce
Personal details
Born	(1943-08-25) 25 August 1943 (age 82) Lecce, Italy
Political party	MSI (until 1995) AN (1995−2009) IS (2009−2014) FdI (2014−2015) FI (2016−2019) FT (2019−2022)
Alma mater	University of Lecce
Profession	University professor

Biography

Born in Lecce, she became Assistant lecturer in Latin literature at the University of Lecce in 1965. In 1985, she became an associate professor of the same subject. From 1967 to 1998, she was a member of the Lecce Municipal Council and, from 1981 to 1990, National secretary for women of the Italian Social Movement. From 1990 to 2000, she was also a member of the national executive of MSI and, subsequently, the National Alliance. Poli Bortone was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies in 1983, and in 1994, she was appointed for a month as Vice President of the Chamber. In 1994, she also served as Agriculture Minister in the Berlusconi I Cabinet. In 1998, she was elected mayor of Lecce and re-confirmed in 2002.

In the 1999 European Parliament election, Poli Bortone was elected MEP with AN, while in the 2008 general election, she was elected to the Senate with The People of Freedom. In 2009, she left the PdL to find her party, I the South. In the 2013 general election, she was a candidate for the Senate in Apulia with Great South but wasn't re-elected. In 2014, Poli Bortone joined Brothers of Italy,^[3] but left the party in 2015, when Forza Italia nominated her for the regional election in Apulia, while FdI decided to support the candidacy of Francesco Schittulli. Finally, she gained 14% of the votes and wasn't elected to the Regional Council. Subsequently, on 29 February 2016, she declared her intention to join Forza Italia.^[4]

In 2019, Poli Bortone left Forza Italia and joined the neo-fascist party Tricolour Flame.^[5] In 2022 she switched to Italexit, a Eurosceptic party led by journalist Gianluigi Paragone.^[6]

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1983	Chamber of Deputies	Lecce–Brindisi–Taranto		MSI	26,422	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Lecce–Brindisi–Taranto		MSI	32,515	Y Elected
1992	Chamber of Deputies	Lecce–Brindisi–Taranto		MSI	23,431	Y Elected
1994	Chamber of Deputies	Lecce		AN	35,131	Y Elected
1996	Chamber of Deputies	Lecce		AN	38,857	Y Elected
1999	European Parliament	Southern Italy		AN	52,593	Y Elected
2004	European Parliament	Southern Italy		AN	92,222	Y Elected
2008	Senate of the Republic	Apulia		PdL	–[a]	Y Elected
2013	Senate of the Republic	Apulia		GS	–[a]	N Not elected

1. Candidate in a closed list proportional representation system.

External links

• Biography portal

• Media related to Adriana Poli Bortone at Wikimedia Commons
• Personal profile of Adriana Poli Bortone in the European Parliament's database of members
• CV of Adriana Poli Bortone

Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by Title jointly held	Deputy 1983–1999	Succeeded by Title jointly held
European Parliament
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of Parliament 1999–2008	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Senate
Preceded by Title jointly held	Senator for Apulia 2008 – 2013	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Political offices
Preceded by Title jointly held	Vice-President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies 1994	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Preceded by Alfredo Luigi Diana	Italian Minister of Agriculture 1994–1995	Succeeded by Walter Luchetti
Preceded by Stefano Salvemini	Mayor of Lecce 1998–2007	Succeeded by Paolo Perrone
Preceded by Carlo Salvemini	Mayor of Lecce since 2024	Incumbent