Carlo Petrini

Carlo Petrini (22 June 1949 – 21 May 2026) was an Italian activist and author who was the founder of the International Slow Food Movement, and Terra Madre festivals.

Early life and activist career Petrini was born in the commune of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Italy, on 22 June 1949. He was formerly a political activist in the communist Proletarian Unity Party (Partito di Unità Proletaria; PdUP). In 1977, he began contributing culinary articles to the communist daily newspapers il manifesto and l'Unità. He began writing about food and wine for major Italian newspapers in 1977.

Petrini continued his advocacy work in later years. In a speech at the Cheese 2025 event, he warned about the potential regulations on raw milk cheese production in Italy.

Slow food movement Petrini first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome. In 1983, he helped to create and develop the Italian non-profit food and wine association known as Arcigola. He founded Slow Food in 1989 and became the organization's president. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Awards Petrini received numerous awards and acknowledgements, including: Communicator of the Year at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London; Sicco Mansholt Prize in the Netherlands; an honorary degree in cultural anthropology from the University of New Hampshire; and the Eckart Witzigmann Science and Media Prize from Germany. He was the recipient of a Champions of the Earth award from the United Nations Environment Programme in 2013 in the Inspiration and Action category. In 2024, Petrini was honored at the Italian Cultural Society's gala awards dinner in Washington, D.C.