They were cousins of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) leader Enrico Berlinguer, who died in 1984.

[2][5] He served as the minister of education between 1996 and 2000 in the cabinets led first by Romano Prodi and then by Massimo D'Alema.

[8] In addition, he served in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.

[4] As a member of the Democratic Party,[9] Berlinguer was elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2009, sitting as part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

[10][11] Source:[12] In 2011, Berlinguer received by the European Parliament the MEP award in the field of culture and education.