Who is the new undersecretary for culture Giampiero Cannella

Giampiero Cannella is the undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture who takes the place of Gianmarco Mazzi, who became minister of tourism. Canenlla was appointed April 22, 2026, by the Council of Ministers during a meeting at Palazzo Chigi that defined the overall reorganization of delegations.

The appointment is part of a broader reorganization of the executive led by Giorgia Meloni and also meets a specific need for territorial representation. With the entry of Cannella, a politician from Sicily, the government in fact strengthens the presence of the South in the apex roles of the central administration. The decision was made official at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting that gave the overall green light to five new undersecretaries.

Born in Palermo on June 24, 1965, Pietro Cannella, known as Giampiero, has a long political and administrative career behind him. His beginnings date back to his activity in FUAN Destra Universitaria, an organization in which he held positions of responsibility until being called into the national leadership by Maurizio Gasparri. In 1998 he became national vice-president of the movement and at the same time embarked on a journalistic career as a trainee at the newspaper Il Secolo d’Italia.

In 2000, at the age of thirty-five, he assumed the national leadership of Azione Universitaria, consolidating his role within the youth organizations of the Italian right. The following year he ran for political elections on the Alleanza Nazionale list and, although initially among those not elected, he entered the Chamber of Deputies on August 1, 2001, succeeding Guido Lo Porto, who was appointed president of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. After failing to be re-elected in 2006, Cannella continued his activities at the local level, taking administrative positions in the City of Palermo. He became first alderman and then deputy mayor, in addition to serving as provincial coordinator of Alleanza Nazionale until 2008. In the same year he returned to the city council led by Diego Cammarata.

In the 2008 parliamentary elections he ran for the People of Freedom, coming out first among those not elected. However, in December 2011 he re-enters the Chamber of Deputies following the resignation of Nicolò Cristaldi, who opted to retain the post of mayor of Mazara del Vallo after a Constitutional Court ruling on incompatibility between offices. In Parliament he joins the Popolo della Libertà group.

Cannella’s political journey continued in the following years with his candidacy in the 2013 elections as the chief candidate for Fratelli d’Italia - Centrodestra Nazionale in Sicilian constituency 1, but did not win re-election. In the same year he started the online newspaper “Il sito di Sicilia” and assumed the position of party coordinator for western Sicily.

In 2018 he stood again in the political elections with Fratelli d’Italia, without being elected. The following year he joined the communications staff of Sicilian Regional President Nello Musumeci, further consolidating his experience in the institutional and political field. Beginning in 2022, he returned to administrative positions in the City of Palermo, with delegations to cultural policies, the museum and library system, entertainment and cultural events, as well as toponymy. On Feb. 19, 2024, he was appointed deputy mayor of the city, succeeding Carolina Varchi.

His landing in the role of undersecretary for Culture thus represents the final step in a path articulated between national politics and local government. The government’s choice points to a figure with both parliamentary and territorial experience, now called to work in a strategic department for the country’s cultural policies.

Who is the new undersecretary for culture Giampiero Cannella

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