Chiara Appendino


Chiara Appendino is an Italian politician who is the 39th and current mayor of Turin. A member of the Five Star Movement, she was elected on 20 June 2016.

Biography

Appendino was born in Moncalieri on 12 June 1984. She attended the Vincenzo Gioberti Torino grammar school and graduated from Bocconi University in Milan with a degree in International Economics and Management, majoring in economics and finance.
From September 2007 to January 2010 she worked as controller for the Juventus soccer team; from 1 January 2010 has worked in administration, finance and control in her husband's business. She has been married since 2010 to the Turin entrepreneur Marco Lavatelli, with whom has one daughter, Sara, who was born on 19 January 2016 at the Mauritian hospital of Turin.

Political career

Appendino's first political involvement was in the Left Ecology Freedom party. In 2012 she joined the nascent Five Star Movement.
At the 2011 Turin local elections Appendino was elected municipal councilor for the 5 Star Movement, collecting 623 preferences.
On 8 November 2015 Appendino officially announced her candidacy for mayor of Turin in the 2016 local elections. In the first round she received 30.92% of the vote at the ballot. On 19 June 2016 she was officially elected Mayor of Turin, picking up 54.56% of the vote in the second round, defeating incumbent mayor Piero Fassino.
In October 2017 the Prosecutor's Office of Turin started an investigation on Appendino on charges of falsity in a public document in connection with the City's 2016 budget. In November 2017 another investigation started, into lack of safety during incidents at Piazza San Carlo where, on 3 June 2017, one person died and more than 1,500 were injured in a stampede during the Champions League final match between Juventus and Real Madrid.
One of the injured people became tetraplegic and eventually died on 25 January 2019.
In June 2019, a third investigation was started based on peculation.