Chairman, Leonardo, Italy
Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo was appointed Chairman of Leonardo S.p.a. on 9 May 2023. Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo has been an Italian diplomat and a European and international official for about forty years. He was formerly Italian Ambassador to Pakistan and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Italian Embassies in Moscow and London. He served in the Italian Representation Offices to the European Union (where he was Head of the Balkans Desk in the Common Foreign and Security Policy) and to NATO. He was also the Director of the Stability Pact for the Balkans. He held various positions in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Head of the Financial Office of the Directorate General for Development Cooperation and Chief of Staff of three deputy Secretaries General and/or deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs; he was later the Deputy Director General for Africa. In the Ministry of Defence, he held the role of Diplomatic Advisor for Ministers Di Paola, Mauro and Pinotti. Ambassador Pontecorvo was the last NATO Senior Civilian Representative for Afghanistan from June 2020, representing the Alliance in the Doha peace talks. He is the author of the book L’Ultimo Aereo da Kabul (The Last Flight from Kabul), published by Piemme – Mondadori, and a columnist for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. He has published articles in numerous magazines, including Eastwest, Prima Comunicazione and Mondo Operaio. He is a television commentator for Italian and international television channels (BBC, Al Jazeera, Sky Arabia, TRT World, Al Ghad, El-Qahera, Asharq News). He has taught bachelor and master university degree classes. As Senior Advisor for climate change in the Somali Government, he took part in the Cop 27 summit held in Sharm El Sheikh. Ambassador Pontecorvo is Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) and Cavaliere di Merito del Sacro Ordine Militare Costantiniano di San Giorgio (Knight of Merit of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George). Moreover, he has been awarded NATO’s Meritorious Medal for Outstanding Service and the 2022 Amato Lamberti Prize for Social Responsibility.
