Andrea Riccardi is an Italian historian, academic, activist and politician, founder in 1968 of the Community of Sant'Egidio. Since 22 March 2015 he is president of the Dante Alighieri Society. Full professor of Contemporary History and well-known scholar of the Catholic Church in the modern and contemporary age, he is the author of many studies, published in different languages, which focus on the relationship between different religious worlds and on the theme of religious cohabitation in particular in the Mediterranean area between the XIX and XX century. He held the position of Minister for International Cooperation and Integration in the Monti Government, from November 16, 2011 to April 28, 2013.