Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi gestures during his year-end press conference in Rome's Villa Madama on December 27, 2007.
CNN  — 

Here’s a look at the life of Romano Prodi, former prime minister of Italy.

Personal

Birth date: August 9, 1939

Birth place: Scandiano, Italy

Father: Mario Prodi

Mother: Enrica Prodi

Marriage: Flavia Franzoni Prodi (1969-present)

Children: Giorgio and Antonio

Education: Catholic University in Milan, Law, 1961; Studied at the London School of Economics

Other Facts

Has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Brown, and Stanford.

Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Timeline

1963-1999 - Works at the University of Bologna.

1974-1978 - Chairman of the publishing house Società Editrice Il Mulino.

November 1978-March 1979 - Serves as Italy’s minister of industry.

1981 - Founds Nomisma, an economic research institute.

November 1982-October 1989 - Serves as president of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction.

1993-1994 - Returns to position as president of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction.

1996-1998 - Prime minister of Italy.

1999-2004 - President of the European Commission.

2006 - Again, elected prime minister of Italy.

January 2008 - Prodi loses a confidence vote in the Italian Senate and resigns.

February 2009 - Is named to a five-year professor-at-large position at Brown University.

October 9, 2012 - Is named the United Nations special envoy for the Sahel, an area of northern Africa between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanian savanna, which includes parts of 13 countries.

April 2013 - Runs for the Italian presidency and loses.

January 31, 2014 - Prodi completes his UN assignment as special envoy for the Sahel.

July 20, 2021 - The Washington Post reports that Prodi, along with hundreds of other politicians and government officials, was targeted by Pegasus spyware.