Topic: Antonio Di Pietro

Antonio Di Pietro (born October 2, 1950) is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government. He was a prosecutor in the team known in Italy as Mani Pulite (Clean Hands) in the early 1990s.

Born into a poor rural family from Montenero di Bisaccia (Molise), as a very young man Di Pietro would go to Germany to work in the morning in a factory and in the afternoon in a sawmill in order to pay for his studies. Back in Italy, he graduated from night school with a degree in law in 1978 and was admitted to serve as a police officer. After a few years, he started a judicial career as a prosecutor.

In February 1991, Di Pietro began investigating Milan's politicians and business leaders for corruption and kickbacks. Together with other well-known magistrates such as Francesco Saverio Borrelli, Ilda Boccassini, Gherardo Colombo, and Piercamillo Davigo, he worked on the Mani Pulite ("Clean Hands") team, which investigated political corruption. As part of this team, he investigated hundreds of local and national politicians, all the way up to the most important national political figures, including Bettino Craxi. The Italian press named the investigation "Tangentopoli" ("Bribesville").