Who is Mariangela Zappia, Italy’s first ambassador to the US

And the first ambassador of Italy to Washington: Mariangela Zappia began her mission earlier this month. “It is with emotion and pride that I take up the post in the United States, a country to which an extraordinary and deep friendship binds us,” he explained in a video message on YouTube. “As allies, Italy and the United States work side by side to protect peace and security in the world, to combat the pandemic and climate change, to promote universal rights and gender equality, to guarantee the values ​​on which our beautiful democracies “.

Born in Viadana, in the province of Mantua, on 12 August 1959, Zappia is graduated in Political Science at the University of Florence. At the beginning of his diplomatic career, he worked in the Diplomatic Litigation, Treaties and Legislative Affairs Service and in the Directorate General for Political Affairs. His first assignment abroad was at the Italian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, then he became adjunct Consul at the Italian Consulate in New York. Back at the Farnesina, at the Press and Information Service and, a few years later, at the Italian Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, he became Councilor for emigration and social affairs. In 2000 she was sent to the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

For three years, from 2003 to 2006, he devotes himself full time to his family (Mariangela Zappia is married to Denis Caillaux, met during the mission in Dakar in 1990, and is the mother of two boys, Claire and Christian), before returning to the General Directorate for Development Cooperation. In 2009, during the Italian Presidency of the G8, she held the special position of coordinator of major events, including those relating to issues of gender-based violence, women, peace and security.

In 2016 it becomes the first woman in Italy to hold the role of Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the Council of Ministers. Appointed Ambassador in 2017, she has been Head of the Permanent Representation to the UN in New York since 2018.

My first speech @ #UNSC: #mediation produce sustainable solutions only if it is inclusive. #women play a key role in #reconciliation & in building inclusive societies. 🇮🇹launched #Mediterranean Women Mediators Network to ⬆️meaningful participation of women in peace processes pic.twitter.com/xW0ZC0WdJb

– Mariangela Zappia (@MAZappia) August 29, 2018

“I am honored to begin my mission in a reopening phase after the many months marked by the pandemic, and to ensure Italy’s support for this phase of fundamental relaunch of the transatlantic relationship,” she adds. “President Biden’s recent mission to Europe, the strong harmony of the United States with the G7 countries, NATO allies and the European Union testify to a new impetus in favor of working together to face common challenges”.