Giulia Scavino

Giulia Scavino
Princess of Sartoria
Incumbent
Assumed office 01 July 2018
First Councillor	Luciana Bergamaschi
Preceded by	Patrizio Giordano
Chair of the Space Policy Council
In office 15 June 2012 – 29 June 2015
First Councillor	Marco Valerio
Preceded by	Luigi Piemonte
Succeeded by	Antonio D'Alema
27th Director of the Royal Observatory
In office 25 February 2007 – 28 June 2018
Preceded by	Carlo Gifuni
Succeeded by	Giovanna Ossola
Chief of Astronaut Operations
In office 01 January 1999 – 31 December 2003
Space Councillor	Giacomo Molinari Laura Fico
Preceded by	Luciano Scalfaro
Succeeded by	Roberto Boldrini
Personal details
Born	18 April 1959 Messelia, Sartoria
Nationality	Sartorian
Spouse	Menon Ostrides (m. 1993)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Maria Scavino Paolo Conte
Residence	Vannelli Palace
Alma mater	Royal University Space University
Space career
Aerospace Service Astronaut
Rank	Rear Admiral
Time in space	463 days
Selection	Class of 1989
Missions	Cavallo XII, Stellare 11A, SSA-XIII, SSA-XVI
Retirement	2003

Giulia Scavino (born 18 April 1959) is a Sartorian astronaut, university professor and space policy advocate currently serving as the Princess of Sartoria. She has previously served as Chief of Astronaut Operations (1998-2003), Chair of the Space Policy Council (2012-2015) and Director of the Royal Observatory (2007-2018).

Scavino has long been a staunch defender of the Aerospace Service and had a key role in its preservation during the 2001-2002 Budgetary Crisis. Since her retirement from the Service she has also been a noted advocate for space exploration, and has spoken extensively about the need for self-sustainable exploration based on international cooperation, rejecting the militarisation of space and arguing in favour of giving developing the commercial spaceflight sector.

She was elected Princess of Sartoria by the Court of the Realms on 27 June 2018, prevailing over four other candidates and capturing 55% of the vote in the fifth round. She was sworn in on 01 July 2018, succeeding Patrizio Giordano and becoming the first female monarch in decades.

Early Life and Education

Scavino was born on 18 April 1959 in Messelia, Sartoria, the only daughter of Maria Scavino (b. 1929) and Paolo Conte (b. 1930). Her mother was a physicist and professor at the University of Castione who eventually worked at the Sartorian Space Office, while her father was a founding partner at Conte & Romano, a well-regarded business consulting firm in the Central and Eastern Realms.

Scavino attended Lorenzo Pietri School, in Castione, where she completed her elementary and secondary levels. She graduated in the top fifth of the class in 1975 and was admitted to the Royal University, one of the most prestigious universities in Sartoria. She moved to Messelia in 1976, where she pursued a degree in Astrophysics with a mention in Political Sciences.

During her university years she became known as one of the most avid defenders of manned space exploration, at a time when leading voices were calling for space probes as a safer and more efficient alternative to manned exploration; she was a founding member of the Aerospace Club and took her fellow members on several visits to Suderia-Sciutto Space Centre, where they attended launches and had conferences with key figures in the Space Office.

She graduated and successfully defended her thesis on "The Political Implications of Space Exploration on the Relations between the Member States of the Artemian Union", which was deemed of sufficient quality to be published by the Royal University Press. Scavino remained in Messelia after this, seeking a master's degree on space policy. She subsequently moved to Suderia, where she sought a doctorate in astrophysics from the Roberto Sciutto University of Aerospace Science and Policy, better known as Space University.

Scavino obtained her doctorate in 1984. She had started teaching at Space University in 1983 and remained there until her resignation on December 1986, upon her acceptance to the Aerospace Academy.