Giorgia Meloni’s coalition bets on German art historian as Florence mayor

Eike Schmidt made a name for himself as director of Florence’s famed Uffizi Gallery by taking on the ticket-scalping mafia, which was selling museum passes at inflated prices.

Now the German art historian — who recently acquired Italian citizenship — is fighting another improbable battle: to be elected as mayor of the Italian city.

His bid is backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, which is betting it can capitalise on Schmidt’s local fame to take power in the long-time leftist stronghold. Voters seem to be receptive to his candidacy, with polls projecting he may qualify for a run-off with the Democratic rival, Sara Funaro.

“What is important . . . is to run the municipality according to corporate criteria, without ideology,” Schmidt recently told affluent Florentines gathered at a 19th-century villa owned by one of his supporters.

Speaking in fluent Italian — which he said he learned while writing his doctoral dissertation in the city from 1994 to 2001, Schmidt added: “We have to think above all about competence.” 

Paola Fantacci, an 80-year-old Florentine who was in the audience, said Schmidt — an expert in Florence’s powerful Renaissance-era patrons, the Medici family, and their miniature ivory sculpture collection — has what it takes to help the city confront the ills of excessive tourism.

“I love this man — he talks so softly but he says the right things,” Fantacci said. “Florence was a jewel when I was young — now, I don’t know how to explain . . . I believe in him.” 

But across town in the working-class Isolotto neighbourhood, voters were sceptical, especially of Schmidt’s claim that his alliance with right-wing parties will not influence his approach to local issues. 

“He is a German,” said retired graphic designer Carlo Mannucci, 80. “I would much prefer a Florentine mayor,” he said, adding “when you are in politics, it’s hard to be apolitical”. 

The results of the race will reverberate far beyond Florence, whose historic centre — the birthplace of modern banking and cradle of the Renaissance — is a Unesco World Heritage site and one of Italy’s biggest tourist attractions.

The city — which spent a year under Nazi occupation after Italy switched sides during the second world war — is among the last leftist bastions in the country. Its loss would deal a significant blow to the Democratic party, and its leader Elly Schlein, who took the party’s helm last year.

But many feel Schmidt — a curator at other prestigious international museums before coming to the Uffizi in 2015 — could be just the man to flip the city for Meloni’s coalition, which is providing volunteers for his campaign.  

Ahead of the June 8-9 vote, polls show Schmidt just a few percentage points behind Funaro in a crowded field — a remarkable development in a city where centre-right candidates have rarely been competitive.

“Schmidt was a gift from the sky for the centre right: for the first time, they found an interesting candidate,” said Domenico Petrolo, author of Who Loves Me, Votes for Me, a book about political communication. “He can catalyse the desire for change.” 

But with no candidate likely to cross the 50 per cent threshold needed to secure victory in the first round, Petrolo said the final outcome would hinge on whether fractious centre-left parties pulled together to support Funaro in an expected run-off. “She will have to unite all the other parts of the left,” he said. 

Mariagrazia Internó, local co-ordinator for the late Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, is optimistic that Schmidt has a fighting chance. “Florentines are tired — truly tired,” she said. “We will surely go to the run-off, and then with the alliances will see.” 

During his eight-year Uffizi tenure — which ended last year, Schmidt made headlines by battling powerful ticket scalpers who bought museum tickets in bulk, then resold them, outside the gallery and online, at high mark-ups. 

He played announcements — in his own voice — urging visitors not to buy from touts, and filed lawsuits against websites that used Uffizi in their domain name to mimic the official site. But not everyone was pleased: he was fined by police, and criticised by incumbent mayor Dario Nardella, for his unauthorised loudspeakers.  

Schmidt said his run for mayor was inspired by appeals from city residents, who approached him on the streets. “I got into politics by being criticised by a politician,” he said in an interview. “I was involved in problems that were oftentimes at the edge of what a museum director does. The city didn’t do anything so I needed to be more proactive myself.”

If elected, Schmidt has pledged tighter regulation of city-centre businesses such as self-check-in Airbnbs, street food vendors and mini-markets catering to tourists. He also wants to entice visitors beyond the historic centre to other parts of the city.

“We will not be able to turn the clock backwards,” he said. “But we can make things more sustainable.” 

Such ideas do appeal. “He is a new wind, a new spirit,” said Mattia Mannini, 33, who runs a food distribution business. “His ideas are completely free from politics — he really thinks about concrete things, like an entrepreneur.”

Others are unsure. “Leading a city like Florence is a little bit difficult,” said Valfrido Barsi, 75, a retired bar owner. “Everyone wants to be in politics but they don’t have the basics.” 

Should he lose, Schmidt says he does have a plan B. He has been appointed director of Capodimonte Museum in Naples, “a very challenging museum” whose problems are the opposite of the Uffizi’s. “In Florence, there is too much demand and not enough capacity,” he said, “but the Capodimonte — not even Italians know about it”. 

Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi

Letter in response to this article:

Melee over Meloni’s museum boss mayoral pick / From François Poirier, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France