Electoral firsts in Italy

This article lists notable electoral firsts in Italy.

General

• First general election with universal suffrage: 1913 (only males), 1946 (both sex);
• First organized political party in the Italian Parliament: Partito Socialista Italiano, 1895;

Women

First female Prime Minister of Italy

• Giorgia Meloni in 2022

First female President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies

• Nilde Iotti in 1979

First female President of the Italian Senate

• Elisabetta Casellati in 2018 ^[1]

First female Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Emma Bonino in 2013

First female Minister of the Interior

• Rosa Russo Iervolino in 1998

First female Minister of Justice

• Paola Severino in 2011

First female Minister of Defence

• Roberta Pinotti in 2014

First female Minister of Economic Development

• Federica Guidi in 2014

First female Minister of Agriculture

• Adriana Poli Bortone in 1994

First female Minister of the Environment

• Stefania Prestigiacomo in 2008

First female Minister of Infrastructure and Transport

• Paola De Micheli in 2019

First female Minister of Labour and Social Policies

• Tina Anselmi in 1976 (also first female Minister in general)

First female Minister of Public Education

• Franca Falcucci in 1982

First female Minister of Culture

• Vincenza Bono in 1988

First female Minister of Health

• Tina Anselmi in 1978

First female constable ("ufficiale giudiziario")

• Maria Luisa Strina, 1964

First female mayors

• Ninetta Bartoli, ^[2] Ada Natali, ^[3] Caterina Tufarelli Palumbo, ^[4] 1946

Black Italians

• Jean-Léonard Touadi, first black deputy in 2008 ^[5]

• Toni Iwobi, first black senator in 2018 ^[6]
• Dacia Valent, first black Italian member of the European Parliament (1989)
• Cécile Kyenge, first black Minister in 2013

LGBT people

• Vladimir Luxuria, first transgender deputy in 2006

References

1. "senato.it - Scheda di attività di Maria Elisabetta ALBERTI CASELLATI - XVIII Legislatura". www.senato.it. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
2. "Ninetta Bartoli, la prima donna sindaco in Italia". L'Unione Sarda.it (in Italian). 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
3. "Ada Natali: la prima sindaca d'Italia". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2025-09-19.
4. carmen (2022-07-06). "Caterina Tufarelli Palumbo. La prima sindaca d'Italia". Una donna al giorno (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-09-19.
5. "Touadì, primo parlamentare di colore. Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
6. Phelan, Jessica (6 March 2018). "Italy elects its first black senator: Toni Iwobi of the League". www.thelocal.it. Archived from the original on 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2021-02-08.