Overview
- He was confirmed dead by his wife in a Facebook post Monday, after reports in recent days said he had been hospitalized with a tumor.
- At Milan’s city council Tuesday, colleagues held a minute of silence, placed a begonia on his bench, and floated proposals to name a room for him and award an Ambrogino d’Oro memorial honor.
- He helped found the environmental group Legambiente and, as Lombardy’s environment and energy assessor in the 1990s, pushed Italy’s first law on separate waste collection and the first anti-smog Air Plan.
- Elected to Milan’s council in 2011 with the Democratic Party and again in 2021 with Europa Verde, he often broke with Mayor Beppe Sala’s majority, most notably opposing the 2025 sale of the San Siro stadium to Inter and AC Milan.
- He was known for hands-on protests—like digging to free tree roots in Piazzale Lavater—and for campaigns against tree felling, urban sprawl, and soil consumption, which won respect from allies and rivals alike, including public praise from Sala, Matteo Salvini, Attilio Fontana, Letizia Moratti, and Mariastella Gelmini.