Ambassador Alberto Colella will take up his duties in Oslo on Monday 12 February. Colella was born in Naples on April 7th,1962. He studied law at the University of Naples, specialising in international law. Since 1986, he has been a career diplomat at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before being appointed as the Italian Ambassador to Oslo, he was the Consul at Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Geneva (Switzerland), and worked at the Italian Embassy in Brasilia and at the Permanent Representation of Italy at the United Nations in New York. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, he worked in legal and consular affairs (1985 - 1990) and (1998-1999) respectively. From 2012 to 2018 he was in charge of the Unit for entry visas. He is married to Maria Rosaria Gallo since 1989 and has five children. Among his hobbies are reading, high-medieval history, and sports.