Honsell received a mathematics degree at the
University of Pisa in 1980, with a subsequent diploma in mathematics at the
Normale of Pisa in 1983.
Academic career Honsell has held research and tenured positions at the computer science department of the
University of Turin, the
University of Edinburgh and the
University of Udine. His research concerned, among other subjects,
lambda calculus and language semantics. In 1990 he was appointed full professor of computer science at the
University of Udine, where he directed the computing center until 1992, the department of mathematics and computer science from 1992 to 1995, and was Dean of the faculty of mathematical, physical and natural sciences from 1995 to 1998. In 2001, Honsell was elected Rector of the
University of Udine, an office he held until 2008, when he ran for the position of
Mayor of Udine.
Political career Mayor of Udine In the local elections of 2008, Honsell was elected Mayor of Udine for the
centre-left coalition, endorsed by the
Democratic Party,
The Left – The Rainbow and the
Italy of Values. He was re-elected in 2013, endorsed by the
Democratic Party,
Left Ecology Freedom and the
Federation of the Left.
Regional councillor On 18 January 2018, Honsell resigned as mayor in order to stand as a candidate in the
regional elections in Friuli-Venezia Giulia the following spring with
Open - Sinistra FVG, a list supported by
Article One, in support of the
centre-left presidential candidate Sergio Bolzonello. Honsell was elected to the regional council and later re-elected in the
following regional election. He was a candidate in the
2019 European elections with the
Democratic Party list as an independent close to
Article One in the
North-East Italy constituency; with 28,535 preferences, he came twelfth and was not elected. In the general elections of 2022, he ran for a seat at the
Senate in the single-member constituency of
Friuli-Venezia Giulia by the
centre-left coalition, obtaining 25.98% and losing the challenge against the
centre-right candidate
Luca Ciriani. == References ==