Elly Schlein
Elena Ethel "Elly" Schlein is an Italian politician who has been serving as the secretary of the Democratic Party since 12 March 2023. She is a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies and was previously the vice president of Emilia-Romagna and a member of the European Parliament. On 26 February 2023, she was elected as the new Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party secretary] with 54% of the vote, becoming the first woman to lead the party.
Early life and education
Elena Ethel Schlein was born on 4 May 1985 in Lugano, Switzerland. She has a sister, Susanna, who is a diplomat by profession and a brother, Benjamin, who is a mathematician.Her father, Melvin Schlein, is an American academic and political scientist of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Originally, her paternal grandfather's surname was Schleyen; after arriving at Ellis Island, he changed it to Schlein. Her paternal ancestors were from Zhovkva, now located in Ukraine, and her paternal grandmother, from whom she takes the middle name Ethel, was of Lithuanian origin.
Schlein's Italian mother, Maria Paola Viviani, is a professor of comparative public law at the University of Insubria. Her maternal grandfather was the Italian Socialist Party politician, senator from 1972 to 1979 and a member of the High [Council of the Judiciary (Italy)|High Council of the Judiciary].
Later in life, Schlein moved to Bologna. She graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 2011, discussing a thesis on constitutional law. Schlein holds American, Italian and Swiss citizenships.
Political career
Early beginnings, 2008–2013
In 2008 and 2012, Schlein volunteered on Barack Obama's two presidential campaigns in the United States. In 2011, she was one of the founders of the association of university students known as Progrè, an association that dealt with deepening and sensitising public opinion on issues related to migration policies and the prison reality.In April 2013, Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and president of the Democratic Party, received in support less than 100 centre-left coalition electors and left the 2013 Italian presidential election campaign. In response, Schlein gave life to the mobilisation campaign known as #OccupyPD, which criticised those behind Prodi's loss and opposed the formation of a grand coalition government, the Letta Cabinet. In the 2013 PD leadership election on 8 December, Schlein gave her support to Giuseppe Civati, who ranked third.
Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019
In February 2014, Schlein ran with the PD for a seat at the European Parliament in the North-Eastern constituency. In the 2014 [European Parliament election in Italy], she was elected to the European Parliament. She served on the European Parliament Committee on Development. In addition to her committee assignments, she was part of the parliament's delegation to the European Union–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee.In May 2015, Schlein announced through a post on Facebook that she was leaving the PD, being in deep disagreement with the new political line of the party imposed by the party secretary and Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi, and joined Possible, the party founded by Civati. In April 2019, Schlein announced her intention not to run in the 2019 [European Parliament election in Italy].
Vice-president of Emilia-Romagna, 2020–2022
In the 2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election on 26 January, Schlein ran as a candidate for member of the regional council of Emilia-Romagna as part of a left-wing electoral alliance called Emilia-Romagna Courageous Ecologist and Progressive. She was elected with over 22,000 votes, the highest vote tally for a councillor in regional history, and was subsequently appointed by Stefano Bonaccini as his vice-president. In February 2020, the PD's secretary Nicola Zingaretti offered Schlein the party presidency spot left vacant by Paolo Gentiloni.2022 general election and Democratic Party leadership run
In the general election held on 26 September 2022, Schlein was elected to the country's Chamber of Deputies. A few weeks later, following Letta's resignation as leader of the PD, Schlein announced her run for the 2023 PD leadership election. In an upset, for the first time in the party's leadership elections, Schlein overcame the second place of the closed primary, by winning the open primary on 26 February 2023, when she was successfully elected ahead of Stefano Bonaccini. In doing so, she became the PD's first female, as well as the youngest person, to be elected leader of the PD since the formation of the party in 2007. She is also the first publicly-declared LGBTQ secretary of the Italian centre-left leading party. During her rise in the party, she has been compared to American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She succeeded Letta on 12 March 2023.On 18 April 2023, Schlein expressed her personal opinion in favour of surrogacy.
2024 European Parliament Elections
In the June 2024 European elections the PD received 24.1% of the votes, second to FdI.Foreign policy
Israel
On foreign policy, Schlein, although of Jewish origin, has taken a strongly anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist position against the state of Israel, providing full support to the pro-Palestinian, de facto pro-Hamas movement.During the 12-Day War, Schlein sided against Israel in favor of Iran.
In September 2025, Schlein gave her full support to the Global Sumud Flotilla, along with other italian left-wing leaders such as Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni, and urged the Italian government to impose sanctions against Israel.
Furthermore, dissatisfied with the Italian government's positions on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Schlein urged Italian municipalities to apply arbitrary sanctions and carry out boycotts against Israel, its citizens, and members of the Israeli government.
Schlein has repeatedly called the Israeli government led by Netanyahu a criminal, and continued to pressure the Italian government to recognize the state of Palestine as soon as possible.
Iran
In January 2025, Schlein expressed support for Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in a remote meeting. Schlein also pledged his full support for the Iranian people's struggle against the Islamic regime.Schlein condemned Israel for attacking Iran, effectively supporting the Iranian theocracy and their goal of destroying Israel.
However, on the occasion of the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, Schlein expressed support for the Iranian protesters fighting for the abolition of Iranian theocracy.
Venezuela
Schlein condemned the use of military force in Venezuela by the United States, about 2026 [United States intervention in Venezuela], in particular she expressed strong condemnation for the violation of international law. Schlein neither condemned Nicolás Maduro's dictatorial regime but expressed his support for the Italians detained without any reason in Venezuelan prisons such as the aid worker Alberto Trentini.Ukraine
Schlein supports Ukraine and its right to self-defense, about Russo-Ukrainian war, including through the contribution of weapons and financial aid sent by Europe.Personal life
In February 2020, Schlein came out as bisexual. Her current partner is Cagliari-born Paola Belloni.Schlein describes herself as a feminist and a progressive.