Topic: Michael Schiavo

Michael Richard Schiavo (pronounced /ˈʃaɪvoʊ/; born April 3, 1963) was the American husband of Terri Schiavo, who became a public figure in a national debate over end-of-life issues. Following his wife's collapse, he led a seven-year but ultimately successful and controversial campaign to remove her feeding tube after she was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state.

Schiavo is the youngest of five brothers in an Italian Lutheran home. He attended Bucks County Community College, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He met Theresa Schindler in a sociology class in 1982. Schiavo proposed five months later and the couple were married on November 10, 1984. They lived in Pennsylvania at the beginning of their marriage, and Michael Schiavo worked as a restaurant manager.

In 1986, the couple relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida because of Terri's job. Michael had several different jobs during this time and was sometimes unemployed.