Luis Durnwalder

Italian politician

Luis Durnwalder


President of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
In office 17 February 2008 – 15 June 2011
Preceded by	Lorenzo Dellai
Succeeded by	Lorenzo Dellai
In office 18 February 2004 – 23 May 2006
Preceded by	Carlo Andreotti
Succeeded by	Lorenzo Dellai
Governor of South Tyrol
In office 17 March 1989 – 9 January 2014
Preceded by	Silvius Magnago
Succeeded by	Arno Kompatscher

Personal details
Born	(1941-09-23) 23 September 1941 (age 82) Pfalzen, Italy
Political party	SVP
Residence	Bolzano

Luis Durnwalder (born 23 September 1941) is an Italian politician, former governor of the autonomous province of South Tyrol from 1989 until 2014, and former president and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy.^[1]

Biography

Durnwalder was born in Pfalzen. After attending school in Pfalzen and Brixen, he originally planned to enter an Augustinian choir at the Neustift monastery in Brixen; however, Durnwalder decided instead to study agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, additionally he attended lectures in law. During this time he began his political activity and became chairman of the student group Südtiroler Hochschülerschaft (until 1965).

In 1969, he became mayor of his home municipality and in 1973 delegate to the provincial assembly; he was Regional Counsellor for the Land Register from 1973 to 1978. At that time he also worked as director of the farmers' association, Südtiroler Bauernbund, and moved to Bolzano, where he lives today. After the 1978 elections, he was elected member of the regional government. From 1989 until 2014 he presided over the provincial government as governor (Landeshauptmann).

Durnwalder is a member of the South Tyrolean People's Party.

He is Knight of Honor of the Order of St. George.^[2]