DATE: 5 p.m. Feb. 9, 2009.

EVENT: Lecture on “Fighting the Mafia and Renewing Sicilian Culture” by former mayor of Palermo, Sicily and current Italian MP, Leoluca Orlando, discussing his experiences fighting organized crime and promoting human rights in Sicily and beyond.

Leoluca Orlando, a lawyer by training, started his political career as legal advisor to Piersanti Mattarella, president of the Sicilian Region, until the latter was killed by the Mafia in 1980. In the same year he was elected city councilor in Palermo for the Christian Democratic Party, and in 1985 he became the city’s mayor, inspiring what came to be known as the “Palermo Spring,” a season of struggles and accomplishments aimed at liberating the city from the influence of organized crime. In 1991, he broke with his former party and founded La Rete (“The Network”), a movement meant to promote participation by positive forces in the various political parties in support of grass-roots democracy.

After stints in the Italian and European Parliaments, he was elected mayor of Palermo for second and third terms during the 1990s. After founding the non-profit organization, The Sicilian Renaissance Institute, he has held seats in the Sicilian Parliament and Parliament of Italy, becoming one of most authoritative voices in the opposition to Berlusconi’s governments, most recently as a member of the Italia dei Valori party. A founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, he has upheld his ongoing international commitments by elaborating and promoting a model of political and economic development called “Culture and economy of human rights.”

The event is free and open to the public.

The European Union Center at the University of Michigan is a European Commission-designated EU Center of Excellence.

PLACE: Room 1636 International Institute, 1080 South University, Ann Arbor.

SPONSORS: U-M’s Center for European Studies-European Union Center and Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies; Kenyon College; Miami University; and Ohio State University.

Related Links:

• Center for European Studies-European Union Center