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Having woken the world-famous Uffizi gallery from its slumber, Eike Schmidt now aims to become the mayor of his adopted city of Florence. The tall 56-year-old and former chief of revered Uffizi gallery could soon be calling the shots at City Hall. In the first round of the Italian mayoral elections, challenger Schmidt, supported by the right-wing governing coalition led by prime minister , won just under 33% of the vote.

He finished in second place — around 10% behind the center-left candidate, Sara Funaro. Now Schmidt will unexpectedly contest the mayoral run-off on June 23 and 24. The art historian from Freiburg im Breisgau — who is half Italian and has an Italian passport — is a world-renowned museum manager.



It all began when, as a child, he was sketching Gothic sculptures and fell in love with the beauty of bygone eras. Having worked in museums in the US and at Sotheby's auction house in London, he obtained his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 2009, before becoming director of the Department of Sculpture, Decorative Arts and Textiles at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. In 2015, he became the .

Can a museum director succeed as mayor? But what qualifies a German arts for the office of mayor of a major Italian city? Many have pondered this question since Schmidt threw his hat into the ring a few weeks before the election as an independent candidate — but supported by the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party of prime minister "The ter.

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