Sepcial Report: Italy's general election

    ROME, April 11 (Xinhua) -- With the victory in Italy's Senate, the center-left coalition led by Romano Prodi on Tuesday beat incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right in Italy's parliamentary election.

    Earlier of the day, the center-left had won 341 seats in the 630-seat Lower House of parliament, against 277 seats for the center-right.

    Prodi, 66, is now at the helm of a disparate coalition that includes two mainstream center-left parties and a varied group of smaller formations, ranging from communists to moderate Catholics.

    The following are some key facts about Prodi.

    Prodi, known as the "Professor," was born in 1939 in the traditionally leftist region Emilia Romagna.

    After completing his secondary education, he studied at the Catholic University of Milan, where he obtained a degree in Law with distinction in 1961.

    Prodi then studied at the London School of Economics and Milan's Catholic University before joining the University of Bologna, where he was an assistant professor (1963), associate professor (1966) and professor (1971-1999) of industrial organisation and industrial policy.

    From 1974 to 1978, he was chairman of the publishing house Societ Editrice Il Mulino. In 1981, he founded Nomisma, one of the leading Italian economic consultancies, and chaired its Scientific Committee until 1995.

    He began his political career as industry minister in the government of Giulio Andreotti in 1978-79.

    From 1982 to 1989, he was chairman of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI), then largest state holding company in Italy. Under his chairmanship, IRI underwent far-reaching reorganization, embarking on a process of change and preparing its subsidiaries for privatization.

    In February 1995, he founded the Ulivo ("Olive tree") center-left coalition, which appointed him as its candidate for the premiership.

    In the parliamentary election in April 1996, the Ulivo beat thecenter-right coalition, and a month later, Prodi was authorized toform the new government.

    The Prodi government remained in office until October 1998. Oneof its achievements was to secure Italy's place in the first wave of countries adopting the euro.

    In March 1999, Prodi was appointed president of the European Commission by the European Council, and his appointment was confirmed in September 1999 by a vote of confidence in the European Parliament. He served in Brussels until 2004.

    As EU chief, he saw the introduction of the single currency in 2002 and the bloc's eastward expansion in May 2004.

    During the election campaign this year, Prodi pledged to cut labor costs, raise the tax on capital gains and reintroduce an inheritance tax abolished by Berlusconi.

    In foreign affairs, he was opposed to war in Iraq and vowed to pull out Italy's remaining troops "as soon as possible."

    Insisting that the priorities of his foreign policy lie in Europe and the Mediterranean, Prodi said Italy's role in Europe should be increased and the EU's role in the world should also be strengthened.

    Prodi married Flavia Franzoni in 1969. They have two sons, Giorgio and Antonio.

    In his spare time, Prodi enjoys cycling and distance running. Enditem