Alberto Airola (born 13 May 1970) is an Italian politician for the Five Star Movement.

Alberto Airola
Member of the Senate of the Republic
In office
15 March 2013 – 12 October 2022
Leader of the 5 Star Movement in the Senate
In office
16 October 2014 – 15 January 2015
Personal details
Born (1970-07-06) 6 July 1970 (age 53)
Moncalieri, Piedmont, Italy
Political partyFive Star Movement

Early life edit

Airola was born in Moncalieri, south of Turin in Piedmont.

Political career edit

Airola was elected to the Italian Senate in the 2013 general election. Airola became new leader of the 5 Star Movement in the Senate on 15 October 2014, taking over from Vito Rosario Petrocelli.[1]

After the 2017 Turin stampede in the Piazza San Carlo, Airola disputed the estimate of the number of injuries caused by the crowd, claiming to be false figures disseminated in order to attack the mayor Chiara Appendino.[2]

Airola has been a critic of Matteo Salvini.[3]

Personal life edit

On the night of 3 September 2017, Airola was attacked and robbed by two North African drug dealers in Turin. Following the struggle with the criminals he suffered a double jaw fracture.[4]

On August 16, 2018 he attempted suicide in his bathroom at home in the Borgo Aurora neighborhood in Turin, but was saved by his sister who called 118.[5] He has since recovered from the incident, thanking his sister for saving his life.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "M5S: Airola nuovo capogruppo Senato - ASCA.it". 6 November 2014. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Calca a Torino, Airola (M5s) si scusa dopo l'attacco : "Numeri farlocchi per attaccare Appendino"". Repubblica.it (in Italian). 4 June 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  3. ^ Curridori, Francesco (20 February 2020). "Droga, Salvini: "Qualche parlamentare la difende perché ne fa uso"". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  4. ^ Sola, Elisa (9 April 2017). "Il senatore M5S Airola aggredito e rapinato nella notte a Torino". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Senatore Airola tenta il suicidio, salvato dalla sorella - Politica". ANSA.it (in Italian). 18 August 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Alberto Airola (M5S): "Un anno fa tentavo il suicidio, grazie Gisella"". L'HuffPost (in Italian). 17 August 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

External links edit

See also edit