Giuli replaces Sangiuliano as Italy prepares to host G7 culture summit.

Alessandro Giuli became Italy's new culture minister on Friday, replacing Gennaro Sangiuliano who resigned after becoming embroiled in a scandal over a consultant role for his former mistress.

After being tapped by premier Giorgia Meloni, Giuli was sworn in by President Sergio Mattarella at a ceremony in the Quirinal Palace in Rome on Friday evening.

Giuli, 48, has been the president of MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome, since November 2022.

His appointment to this role was among the first by Sangiuliano who took office as culture minister the month before.

Considered a Meloni loyalist, Giuli had been touted as a contender for the culture portfolio ahead of the formation of the imcumbent right-wing coalition two years ago.

Following his appointment on Friday, La Stampa newspaper published footage from 2018 of Giuli interviewing Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist under then US president Donald Trump.

The event, which took place on Tiber Island in Rome, was part of the Atreju political rally organised by Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party.

"We talked about the patriot Trump" - Giuli said in the video - "There is another patriot in my opinion who is called Vladimir Putin and is in Moscow."

#Quirinale: il nuovo Ministro della cultura Alessandro #Giuli ha prestato giuramento nelle mani del Presidente #Mattarella pic.twitter.com/0dZL4I9eCb

— Quirinale (@Quirinale) September 6, 2024

Last year Giuli was dragged into a controversy over a sexist rant by former culture undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, who resigned earlier this year amid an investigation into his alleged laundering of a stolen painting, during a cultural event at MAXXI.

A journalist by profession, Giuli has worked for right-leaning newspapers including Il Foglio under Giuliono Ferarra, serving as co-director until 2017, before serving briefly as director of the Catholic magazine Tempi.

He was also a columnist for Libero and has collaborated with Linkiesta, Il Tempo, Libero and Corriere dell'Umbria.

Giuli is a regular guest on television as a commentator on political and current affairs shows and is a well-known face on Rome's cultural scene.

He is also a writer and has published several books including Il passo delle oche: the unresolved identity of the post-fascists and Sovereignism for beginners: Individuals and power between identity and integration.

Born in Rome on 27 September 1975, Giuli studied philosophy at La Sapienza. He is married to SkyTg24 journalist Valeria Falcioni with whom he has two children born in 2016 and 2019.

In his new role, Giuli will hit the ground running as Italy prepares to host the G7 culture summit from 19-21 September, in the southern Campania region, where the new minister will welcome his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.

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