Mele Maria Cristiana

Cristiana Maria Mele is a career diplomat. She graduated in Political Science from the University of Florence in 1996 and entered the diplomatic service in 1998 after passing the competitive examination, subsequently completing professional training at the Diplomatic Institute. From 1999 onwards, she held various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, initially working on economic affairs and European countries. In 2000, she was appointed Deputy Consul in Zurich, where she subsequently served as Deputy Consul General; in 2003, she became Consul in Perth, Australia. Returning to the Ministry in 2007, she worked in the Directorate General for Sub-Saharan African Countries and, from 2011, served as Head of Office II within the Legal Affairs, Diplomatic Litigation and Treaties Service.

From 2014 to 2018, she served as Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in New York. She subsequently held positions in the field of development cooperation, contributing to work on strategy, global processes and international organisations. Appointed Embassy Counsellor in 2020, in 2021 she was appointed Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia, a position she held until 2025. Since 2025, she has worked directly under the Director General for Political and Security Affairs and, since January 2026, under the Director General for Political Affairs and International Security, with the title and role of Coordinator for the Promotion of Interreligious Dialogue at the international level.