11 Facts About Rosario Crocetta

Rosario Crocetta was born on 8 February 1951 and is an Italian politician.

Rosario Crocetta was the first openly gay mayor in Italy when he became Mayor of Gela in 2003, a post he held until 2009.

Rosario Crocetta was President of Sicily between 2012 and 2017 following the 2012 Sicilian regional election, thus becoming the second openly gay head of a regional government in Italy after Nichi Vendola.

Rosario Crocetta says he speaks four languages: Italian, Arabic, English and French and has been heard speaking and has posted on social media in the Sicilian language.

Rosario Crocetta started his political career in the 1980s within the Italian Communist Party, later joining the Communist Refoundation Party.

In 2012, Rosario Crocetta ran as gubernatorial candidate against Sebastiano "Nello" Musumeci of Berlusconi's PDL party and eight other minor party candidates.

Rosario Crocetta ran in Sicily on the ticket of La Rivoluzione e Gia Iniziata and obtained 30.5 percent of the votes, becoming the first left-wing governor of Sicily since 1947.

In 2008, a failed plan to kill Rosario Crocetta was made public by the district attorney of Caltanissetta; as a result, Rosario Crocetta was immediately placed under tighter security.

In 2010, a new assassination plot against Rosario Crocetta was thwarted, and five people affiliated with the local Mafia were arrested.

Rosario Crocetta was the first openly gay mayor in Italy when he became Mayor of Gela in 2003 till 2009.

Rosario Crocetta is the second openly gay head of a regional government in Italy after Nichi Vendola when he was the President of Sicily between 2012 and 2017.