Marco Biagi

Marco Biagi was born in Bologna on 24 November 1950.

After completing his high school studies, at the age of 22 he took his degree in law at the University of Bologna, graduating summa cum laude under the supervision of Giuseppe Federico Mancini.

He was then awarded a grant to pursue postgraduate studies in labour law at the University of Pisa under the supervision of Luigi Montuschi.

 

In 1974 he was awarded a contract to teach private law at the Faculty of Law in Bologna and began teaching also at the Universities of Ferrara and Modena. He was then appointed as a lecturer at the University of Calabria.

 

Faculty of Law, Bologna

In 1984 he won a public competition and was appointed Professor of Labour Law and Italian and Comparative Trade Union Law at the University of Modena, in the Department of Business Administration.

From the 1980s until 2002 he was Adjunct Professor of European Labour Law and Politics at the Dickinson College Bologna Center for European Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Industrial Relations and a member of the Academic Council at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center.

 

From 1987 till 2002 he held the post of Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics at the same university.

In 1991 he founded the Centre for International and Comparative Studies at the Department of Business Administration at the University of Modena, launching an innovative research model in the field of labor and industrial relations. From 2000 a group of young scholars and collaborators began to carry out research at the Centre.

 

Department of Economics Marco Biagi

In 1993 he became the labour law and industrial relations columnist for Il Resto del Carlino, Il Giorno, La Nazione and Italia Oggi. From 1995, together with Luciano Spagnolo Vigorita he was co-director of Diritto delle Relazioni Industriali, published by Giuffrè.

From 1995 onwards he was labour law and industrial relations correspondent for Il Sole-24 Ore.

In 1995 he became special advisor to the Minister of Labour, Tiziano Treu.

 

In 1996 he was appointed Chair of the Committee of Experts for the drafting of a consolidating act on health and safety, set up by the Ministry of Labour, and coordinator of the working party at the Ministry of Labour dealing with problems relating to international relations.

 

In 1997 he was appointed as representative of the Italian government to the committee for employment and the labour market of the European Union, and was nominated as an expert by the International Labour Organisation to assist the government of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in drafting new labour legislation.

 

In 1997 he was appointed as special advisor to the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi.

 

In 1998 he was appointed special advisor to the Minister of Labour, Antonio Bassolino, and to the Minister of Transport, Tiziano Treu.

In the same year he became a member of the Board of Administration of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, in Dublin, representing the Italian government.

From 1999 he became Vice-President of the committee on employment and the labour market of the European Union and a special advisor to the Minister of Public Administration, Angelo Piazza.

Marco Biagi was active in the design and implementation of innovative projects also in higher education, and in 2000 he was appointed delegate for career guidance by the Rector of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

 

In 2001 he was appointed consultant to the Minister of Welfare, Roberto Maroni, and the President of the European Union, Romano Prodi.

In the same year he was appointed to the group examining the future of industrial relations set up by the European Commission

 

European Commission

Marco Biagi lost his life in Bologna on the evening of 19 March 2002, at the age of 51, as a result of a terrorist attack by the Red Brigades.

 

Via Valdonica, in the center of Bologna City

His research continues through the work of the Marco Biagi Foundation set up by his family and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.