Luca Attanasio
Death Attanasio, Zoro: "I met him, he was prepared and aware"
The death of Ambassador Luca Attanasio, political reactions.
Pain in his hometown
Congo, attack on UN convoy: Italian ambassador and a carabiniere killed
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22 February 2021 Ambassador Luca Attanasio, killed this morning in an attack in Congo, was 43 years old.
Born in Saronno, in the province of Varese, he was married to Zakia Seddiki, founder and president of the humanitarian association 'Mama Sofia' in support of women in Africa.
Father of three girls (including twins), with his wife last October he received the Nassiriya International Peace Prize.
"That of the Ambassador is a mission, sometimes even dangerous, but we have a duty to lead by example."
he said to Camerota (Salerno) on 12 October last, on the occasion of the reception of the international prize "Nassiriya for Peace", delivered by the local cultural association "Elaia".
"In Congo - continued Attanasio - words like peace, health, education, are a privilege for very few, and today the Democratic Republic of Congo is thirsty for peace, after three wars that lasted twenty years".
Graduated from Bocconi with full marks, he embarked on a diplomatic career through competition and after a first business experience covering various positions, first at the Italian Embassy in Bern (2006-2010), then Regent Consul General in Casablanca, Morocco (2010-2013).
After returning to the Farnesina in 2013, as Head of the Secretariat of the Directorate General for Globalization and Global Affairs, he returned to Africa in 2015 as first adviser at the Italian Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.
From 5 September 2017 he was head of mission in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he had been reconfirmed as Extraordinary Plenipotentiary Ambassador accredited to the DRC.