The Democrats of the Left was a social-democratic political party in Italy. Positioned on the centre-left, the DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of the PDS with several minor parties. A member of The Olive Tree coalition, the DS was successively led by Massimo D'Alema, Walter Veltroni, and Piero Fassino, and merged with Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy and a number of minor centre-left parties to form the Democratic Party in October 2007.
Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the time; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. Previously she was the Mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006, the first female mayor in the city's history, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She also served as Minister for Culture of Greece from 1992 to 1993.
Giovanni Berlinguer was an Italian politician, humanist, and professor of social medicine.
Juan Fernando López Aguilar is a Spanish jurist and politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He served as Minister of Justice in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He also represented Las Palmas in the Congress of Deputies between 1996 and 2007 and between 2008 and 2009.
Walter Veltroni is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician. He served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the Italian centre-left opposition until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He also served as mayor of Rome from June 2001 to February 2008.
Hannes Swoboda is an Austrian social democratic politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1996 until 2014. Within the Parliament, he represents the Social Democratic Party of Austria and from January 2012 to June 2014, he was also the President of the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Fausto Bertinotti is an Italian politician who led the Communist Refoundation Party from 1994 to 2006. On 29 April 2006, after the centre-left coalition's victory in the Italian general election, he was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies, a position he held until 2008.
Antonio López-Istúriz White is a Spanish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Spain. He is a member of the People's Party, member party of the European People's Party. He has served as the Secretary General of the European People's Party since March 2002 till May 2022.
The Democratic Party of the Left was a democratic-socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, the party was the largest in the Alliance of Progressives and The Olive Tree coalitions. In February 1998, the party merged with minor parties to form Democrats of the Left. At its peak in 1991, the party had a membership of 989,708; by 1998, it was reduced to 613,412.
Sergio Chiamparino is an Italian politician. He was the mayor of Turin from 2001 to 2011, and the president of Piedmont from 2014 to 2019. He is also the author of several books, including Semplicemente sindaco, La sfida. Oltre il Pd per tornare a vincere. Anche al Nord (2010), Cordata con sindaco, and TAV. Perché sì.
Titus Corlățean is a Romanian politician and diplomat, former Minister of Justice and of Foreign Affairs. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), part of the Party of European Socialists, and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Brașov County in the 2004 elections.
Tonino Picula is a Croatian politician currently serving his fourth term as a Member of the European Parliament for Croatia, having successfully run in 2013, 2014, 2019 and 2024 European elections.
Massimo D'Alema is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also served for a time as national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Earlier in his career, D'Alema was a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and was the first former Communist party member to become prime minister of a NATO country and the only former PCI prime minister of Italy. Due to his first name and for his dominant position in the left-wing coalitions during the Second Republic, he is referred to as Leader Maximo. He is also the author of several books.
Vittorio Foa was an Italian politician, trade unionist, journalist, and writer.
Maryvonne Blondin is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Finistère department. She is a member of the Socialist Party.
Kati Piri is a Hungarian-born Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she previously was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats from 2014 until 2021.
Johann David Wadephul is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been a member of the German Parliament since 2009.
Diego Novelli is an Italian politician. He is a former mayor of Turin.
Giovanni Roveda was an Italian trade union leader, communist politician and anti-fascist activist.
Stefano Sannino is an Italian diplomat and European civil servant.
