Matteo Lepore (born 10 October 1980) is an Italian politician, member of the Democratic Party (PD) and he is serving as mayor of Bologna since 11 October 2021.^[1]

Lepore was born in Bologna in 1980 and grew up in the Savena district. He attended the classical lyceum Luigi Galvani and graduated in political science from the University of Bologna.^[2] In 2007, he obtained a master's degree in international relations, after having carried out an internship in Brussels at the Liaison Office with the European Institutions of the Emilia-Romagna Region. In 2008 he obtained another master's degree in building and urban planning and in 2009 one in cooperation economics, both at the University of Bologna.^[3]

From 2008 to 2011, Lepore was responsible for the territorial development, innovation and internationalization area of Legacoop Bologna. In 2010, he was part of the organizing technical committee for the city of Bologna at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.^[4]

Lepore became a member of the Democrats of the Left (DS) in 1999, and in 2007, he was among the founders of the Democratic Party (PD). Following the 2011 municipal election with the victory of Virginio Merola, Lepore was appointed municipal councilor for Institutional Affairs, Demographic Services, International Relations, Communication, Urban Marketing, Innovation and Work.^[5] Elected town councilor also in the 2016 election, he was then appointed councilor for Culture, Tourism, Heritage, Sport and Civic Imagination, becoming one of the closest advisor of Merola and widely considered his most probable successor as mayor.^[6]

• List of mayors of Bologna
• List of Democratic Party of Italy politicians