Rocco Buttiglione

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Rocco Buttiglione
Minister of Culture and Tourism
In office 23 April 2005 – 17 May 2006
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Deputy	Antonio Martusciello
Preceded by	Giuliano Urbani
Succeeded by	Francesco Rutelli
Minister of European Affairs
In office 11 June 2001 – 23 April 2005
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Gianni Francesco Mattioli
Succeeded by	Giorgio La Malfa
Personal details
Born	Rocco Buttiglione (1948-06-06) 6 June 1948 (age 76) Gallipoli, Italy
Political party	DC (before 1994) PPI (1994–1995) CDU 1995–2002) UDC (since 2002)
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Spouse	Maria Pia Corbò
Occupation	Politician

Rocco Buttiglione (Italian: [ˈrɔkko buttiʎˈʎoːne]; born 6 June 1948) is an Italian Union of Christian and Centre Democrats politician and an academic. Buttiglione's nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil liberties, resulted in controversy as some political groups opposed him for his conservative Catholic views on homosexuality, despite his assurances that these were only his personal convictions and would not dictate his administration.

Buttiglione is a Professor of political science at Saint Pius V University in Rome, and member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He served as a minister for EU policies (from 2001 to 2005) and then as Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities (from 2005 to 2006) in Silvio Berlusconi's governments. In 2005 Buttiglione received an honorary doctoral degree from Guatemalan Francisco Marroquín University^[1] for his commitment to the ideas of liberty.

In May 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Turin.