Luigi Di Maio

Luigi Di Maio became involved in a relationship with communication consultant Silvia Virgulti, who is ten years elder to him, in 2014, after she was selected by Grillo to serve as a television coach for politicians. She had bagged the role by impressing him with her article on the analysis of the errors of posture of some parliamentarians in front of the cameras on the talk shows.

As the two developed a relationship during those courses held in Rome, she also began to serve as his adviser sometimes. He publicly showed affection for her by reading out her message to him before taking on the senate floor, which also earned him criticism.

In November 2017, Di Maio, mentioned during a press conference that they had already separated a month ago, but have remained on excellent terms. He added that while they had a close bond, they were unable to spend time with each other due to busy schedule, which caused them to separate amicably, but they wish each other well.

Luigi Di Maio was born on July 6, 1986 in Pomigliano d'Arco, near Naples, the second-largest municipality in Italy, to Antonio, a building contractor, and his wife, a teacher of Italian and Latin. His father was the leader of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) and had unsuccessfully tried to enter the city council three times in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2004, he graduated from the classical lyceum Vittorio Imbriani and then enrolled into the Faculty of engineering at Federico II University of Naples, only to change subject to jurisprudence later. He never completed his college graduation, but was one of the founders of students' unions at both faculties.

He received his registration as apprentice journalist in 2007, but has never held a professional position. He worked as a webmaster and as a steward at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples for a brief period of time.

The eldest of three sons, he holds 50% share in his father’s construction company, Ardima srl, which he founded with his sister Rosalba, an architect. However, the company is managed by his father, a building contractor, and Luigi has no functional roles there.

In 2007, Luigi Di Maio was appointed faculty adviser and President of the Student Council. The same year, along with others, he founded the political group ‘Friends of Beppe Grillo’ in support of the irreverent populist comedian, Beppe Grillo, who denounced cronyism in Italian politics.

Two year later, in October 2009, when Beppe Grillo founded the anti-establishment party ‘Five Star Movement’ (M5S), he was one of its avid supporters. He introduced himself to the city council in 2010 but managed to get only 59 votes.

In the 2013 elections, the party got widespread support from disillusioned voters, bagging nearly 9 million votes and shaking up the political landscape in Italy. That year, at the age of 26-and-a-half-year, he was elected into the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, becoming the youngest Vice President to be ever elected into the lower house of Italy's Parliament.

The party grew rapidly with its unorthodox approach of using the internet and social media sites to track voter sentiment to reach a wider audience quickly. However, the party, which is known for holding online primaries, has been criticized for promoting favorable candidates via false primaries with little actual option.

In December 2016, the populist movement opposed Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s push for sweeping constitutional reforms. A majority of Italian voters voted against the legislative revisions in a referendum, forcing Renzi to accept defeat and resign, thereby bringing down the government.

Luigi Di Maio secured a resounding victory in the 2018 Italian election by leading the anti-establishment Five Star Movement to 32.5% votes. With about one-third of the votes, it became the single largest party in the Italian election.