1. Giovanni Saverio Furio "Gianni" Pittella was born on 19 November 1958 and is an Italian politician who served as Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group from 2014 to 2018 and Member of the European Parliament from Italy from 1999 to 2018.
Gianni Pittella previously served as First Vice-President of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014.
Gianni Pittella graduated in medicine and surgery, and later specialized in legal and forensic medicine at the University of Naples Federico II.
Gianni Pittella is the son of Domenico Pittella, who was a member of the Senate of the Republic in the Basilicata constituency.
Gianni Pittella's younger brother, Marcello Pittella, is a politician, who was the president of Basilicata from 2013 to 2019.
Gianni Pittella was a member of the Italian Socialist Party and regional secretary of Young Socialists in Basilicata.
In 2013, Gianni Pittella was a member of the national leadership council of the Democratic Party, then led by Pier Luigi Bersani.
Gianni Pittella took part in the 2013 Democratic Party leadership election.
Gianni Pittella was re-elected in the 2004,2009, and 2014 European Parliament elections.
Gianni Pittella later was a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Committee on Culture and Education.
Gianni Pittella served as one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament from 14 July 2009 to 1 July 2014.
Gianni Pittella was previously a member of the delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, with Australia and New Zealand, and with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
Gianni Pittella attended the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to watch the nomination of Hillary Clinton.
Gianni Pittella subsequently resigned as leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group.
In 2022, Gianni Pittella left the Democratic Party and alongside his brother, who was not chosen as candidate within the Democratic Party, joined the Action party led by former Democratic Party member Carlo Calenda.
Ahead of the 2024 Basilicata regional election, Gianni Pittella dissented from his brother, who alleged vetoes within the centre-left coalition and went on to join the centre-right coalition in support of the incumbent president Vito Bardi.
Gianni Pittella was the founder and director of the magazine Il Segno Mediterraneo.
Gianni Pittella is a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia's London Academy of Diplomacy and ex-officio member of the bureau of the Fondation europeenne d'etudes progressistes.
Gianni Pittella is a honorary citizen of the city of Buenos Aires.