From its origins in Cassano Magnago to the birth of the Northern League

Umberto Bossi nasce a Cassano Magnagoin the province ofVareseon 19 September 1941, the first of the three children of the worker Ambrogio Bossi and the concierge Ida Mauri. After thescientific maturityhe enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine ofUniversity of Paviawithout however obtaining a degree. In his youth, he also had a brief experience as a singer: under the stage name of Donato he participated in theCastrocaro Festival.

The encounter with ideasautonomists and federalistsIt happens by chance, in 1979, at the age of 38: one day, upon entering the University of Pavia, he notices a flyer fromUnion Valdôtaineby Bruno Salvadori, autonomist party of the Aosta Valley. And it’s the relationship withSalvadoriwhich he knew shortly after, the turning point that definitively marked his involvement inpolitics. The historic friendship with also dates back to 1979Roberto Maroniwho, in 2012, will take his place at the helm ofLegabefore leaving the movement aMatteo Salviniin December 2013. Two years after the sudden death of Salvadori, in a car accident in 1980, with Maroni, Bossi created a newspaper, ‘Autonomist Lombardy‘, while his friend Bobo was not present on 12 April 1984 when, in front of a notary from Varese, Umberto founded theLombard autonomist leaguetogether with his second wife Manuela Marrone, Pierangelo Brivio, Giuseppe Leoni, Marino Moroni and Emilio Sogliaghi.

The political rise and foundation of the Northern League

Alle local elections of 1985the League elects the first representatives in the Municipalities of Varese and Gallarate and in the province of Varese (Maroni is among these). Atpolicies of 1987Bossi is a candidate both for the Chamber, obtaining a seat in the Como-Sondrio-Varese constituency, then assigned to Giuseppe Leoni as his replacement, and forPalazzo Madamabeing elected for the first timesenatorin the college of Varese (hence the nickname ‘senatùr’, or senator in Varese dialect). In February 1991 the great intuition of federating all thenorthern autonomist movements(Liga Veneta, Piemonte Autonomista and other minor leagues), in the Pieve Emanuele congress which gave life to theNorthern Leagueof which he is electedfederal secretary. Alle policies of 1992the League experienced a boom and Bossi was re-elected, this time to the Chamber. In the same year, investigations explodedTangentopolian event which initially sees the Northern League member among the most convinced supporters of the Milan pool. But Bossi and his League were also involved in 1993 for an issue related to aillicit financingof 200 million lire, received by the then managers of the chemical giant Montedison. 1994 is the year of the firstagreement with Berlusconifollowing the arrival on the field announced by the Cavaliere on 26 January. But the agreement lasts a few months, from May to December, and the firstBerlusconi governmentfalls precisely because of the resignation of the Northern League ministers, who become protagonists of the ‘turnaround‘ against the “Berluskaiser” (the nickname invented by Bossi) and favor the birth of‘technical’ governmentformed in January 1995 by Lamberto Dini.

The secessionist phase and the return to the centre-right

The rift with the founder ofForza Italiamarks the first, dramatic, battleground with Maroni, then Minister of the Interior, who does not support the boss’s decision. And it is anticipated by the famous ‘sardine pact‘, from the name of the dish offered by Bossi to the secretary of the PDS Massimo D’Alema and that of the PPI Rocco Buttiglione, in a meeting held on 23 December in the Northern League member’s house in Rome. Since 1996, Bossi has brought the stage to lifesecessionistof the Movement, with the large demonstration on the Po, and the declaration ofindependence of Padaniapronounced on 15 September on the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice (a ritual then repeated until his resignation). In opposition during the centre-left governments, Bossi re-established relations withCentre-right poleon the occasion ofregional elections of 2000forming a new coalition the following year, calledHouse of Freedoms. The alliance winspolitical elections of 2001even if the Northern League’s votes drop to 3.9% in the Chamber, to 4.2% in the Senate. The senatur becomesMinister for Reform and Devolution.

Stroke, rehabilitation and discharge

On 11 March 2004 he was urgently admitted to the Cittiglio hospital and then transferred to Varese following astroke. Rehabilitation forced him to undergo a long hospital stay in the Hildebrand clinic in Brissago, Switzerland, which was kept secret for a long time (51 days), and a tiring convalescence, which led to a long interruption of hispolitical activity. Gradually, he resumed his activity and his role as minister despite the illness that caused him toemiparesisof the left side of the body. Following thescandal over the management of party fundsby the treasurer Francesco Belsito, resigns as secretary during a meeting of the federal council, which appoints atriumvirateformed by Maroni, Roberto Calderoli and Manuela Dal Lago. Maroni will be elected in the congress of July 1st of that year.

The return and the political legacy

At the gathering ofPontida of 2013Bossi returns to the political scene and, in view of the primary elections for the choice of Maroni’s successor, he is a candidate for the secretariat, challengingSalvinithen MEP and secretary of the Lombard League. The elderly founder obtained 18.34% of the votes against 81.66% of the young dolphin of Maroni, who took over the leadership of the party. Atearly political elections of 2022he was re-nominated for the Chamber, as leader of the League in the multi-member constituency Lombardia 2 – 01, being re-elected deputy for the 19th legislature. His last appearance inMontecitorioit is for the election of the Northern League member Lorenzo Fontana as president of the Chamber. After years characterized by different visions – one ‘northernist’, the other ‘sovereignist’ – when he spoke of Bossi, Salvini recently only liked to say of the elderly “Boss”: “WithoutUmberto Bossiwe wouldn’t be where we are now.”