Pansieri, a fluent speaker of English, German, French, Spanish and Chinese, in addition to her native Italian, holds doctorate degrees in philosophy from Milan University and in Chinese language and literature from Venice University.

UN: Secretary-General

In 1592, Galileo made his way to Padua, right outside Venice, to teach at the university.

NEWYORKER: Moon Man

The mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, who is a university teacher of philosophy by profession, is not impressed by the Mafia theory.

ECONOMIST: The great Fenice mystery