Italy appoints Elisabetta Belloni as first woman to head secret services

Italy’s Former Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni has now been named as the first woman to lead Italy's secret services. On Wednesday, May 12, Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced his choice of Elisabetta Belloni as head of the Department of Information Security (DIS). The department is responsible for overseeing  the country's foreign and domestic intelligence services and reports directly to the Italian government. Earlier, Belloni has served as the secretary general of the foreign ministry.

All you need to know about Elisabetta Belloni

She has also served as a diplomat in Vienna and Bratislava. This is not the first time when Belloni has made history as she was also the first woman to lead the Italian foreign ministry's crisis unit. During her tenure, she had to deal with Italian nationals, who were killed or injured abroad. She also dealt with the kidnappings in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, she was responsible for overseeing the rescue operations for Italians affected by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. She became one of the first girls to join the prestigious - and formerly exclusively male - Massimiliano Massimo Institute in Rome. 

As per the Ministry’s official page, in August 1986 she was seconded to UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) in Vienna. She has also represented Italy at the Vienna Negotiations as Deputy Head of Delegation for CSBM (Confidence and Security Building Measures). She was also Member of the Italian Delegation to the Helsinki Meeting on CSCE negotiations (1992). Back in Rome, she served as Chief of Cabinet to the Under-Secretary of State in charge of European Affairs (2002-2004). 

She speaks multiple languages including English, French, Spanish and also has a basic knowledge of German. From July 2008 to December 2012, she served as the Director General for Development Cooperation in the Italian Foreign Ministry. After that from the time period of January 2013 to June 15, 2015, she served as the Director General for Human Resources, Budget and Innovation in the Italian Foreign Ministry. In the year 2014, she was promoted to the rank of Ambassador in January 2014.

IMAGE: Twitter/@CBisogniero