Giulia Scavino

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Giulia Scavino
Giulia1.jpg
Princess of Sartoria
Assumed office
01 July 2018
First CouncillorLuciana Bergamaschi
Preceded byPatrizio Giordano
Chair of the Space Policy Council
In office
15 June 2012 – 29 June 2015
First CouncillorMarco Valerio
Preceded byLuigi Piemonte
Succeeded byAntonio D'Alema
27th Director of the Royal Observatory
In office
25 February 2007 – 28 June 2018
Preceded byCarlo Gifuni
Succeeded byGiovanna Ossola
Chief of Astronaut Operations
In office
01 January 1999 – 31 December 2003
Space CouncillorGiacomo Molinari
Laura Fico
Preceded byLuciano Scalfaro
Succeeded byRoberto Boldrini
Personal details
Born18 April 1959
Messelia, Sartoria
NationalitySartorian
Spouse
Menon Ostrides (m. 1993)
Children2
Parent(s)Maria Scavino
Paolo Conte
ResidenceVannelli Palace
Alma materRoyal University
Space University
Space career
Aerospace Service Astronaut
RankRear Admiral
Time in space
463 days
SelectionClass of 1989
MissionsCavallo XII, Stellare 11A, SSA-XIII, SSA-XVI
Retirement2003

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 university's 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.