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Francesco Rutelli (born June 14, 1954), MP, is an Italian politician, formerly Mayor of Rome, and president of the center wing liberal party Daisy-Democracy is Freedom. He is also the Minister of Welfare and Cultural Activities in the cabinet of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

Francesco Rutelli was born in Rome.

He first tried his hand at art and, in the mid 1970s, took part in some collective exhibitions in Roman art galleries, where he showed his surrealist collages. He entered politics joining the Italian Radicals party, for which he was then elected secretary in 1980, when aged just 26; with the Italian Radicals, Rutelli championed libertarian and secular policies such as legalising abortion, the legalisation of cannabis and unilateral disarmament. First elected as deputy in 1983, confirming his office in 1987 and 1992, he then joined the Federation of the Greens in the late 1980s, becoming one of the party's leading figures, and embracing environmental campaigns.

He was then chosen as Ministry of Environment and Urban Areas in 1993, although he resigned after one day in the post. That same year, he was first elected Mayor of Rome as centre-left coalition candidate, defeating right wing candidate Gianfranco Fini. He held the position until 2001.

He also served as European Deputy from 1999 to 2004. From the mid-1990s onwards his views appeared increasingly closer to the centre of the Italian political spectrum, accommodating policies normally associated with the Catholic Centre and the Vatican.

In 2001, he was defeated by Silvio Berlusconi in the general election as candidate premier for the left-wing Olive Tree. He was also one of the founders of the Democrats party, now part of Democracy is Freedom - Daisy, of which it is current leader.

Francesco Rutelli's role in the Daisy (a party with strong ties with Italian Christian heritage) is often considered a singular achievement after a fairly erratic journey within Italian progressive politics, mainly because of his past libertarian and green experiences.

In 2006 he was named Minister of Welfare and Cultural Activities in the government of Romano Prodi.

• Rutelli is a supporter of Roman football club S.S. Lazio.
• His wife, Barbara Palombelli, is a famous journalist for the major italian broadasting Rai and Mediaset.
• His nicknames include Cicciobello (from the name of a favourite Italian male doll, referring to his pleasant appearance) and Er Cicoria (in Romanesco dialect, "chicory man"). He received the latter after a polemical speech in which, in reply to criticism against his allegedly ambiguous politics, he declared that he had been "eating bread and chicory for months" to keep up the centre-left coalition.
• His favourite food is bucatini all'amatriciana, a pasta dish typical of the roman cooking.^{[citations needed]}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2uDyzxP6g

Preceded by Alessandro Voci

Mayor of Rome 1993–2001

Succeeded by Walter Veltroni