Enrico Rossi was born into a working class family in Bientina, Pisa, on 25 August 1958. Following his classical high school diploma, he studied at University of Pisa. In 1982 he earned a degree in Philosophy, writing a thesis on Agnes Heller, a Hungarian philosopher member of the "Budapest School", and a known representative of Communist dissent.
His political engagement starts at the beginning of the '80s with the Italian Communist Party (PCI). In 1985, after briefly working as a reporter for the Pontedera edition of Il Tirreno, he is appointed as Deputy Mayor and council member of the Municipality of Pontedera. He will then serve as Mayor of Pontedera from 1990 to 2000. As a Mayor, he is the main promoter of "Progetto Pontedera" ("Pontedera Project"), that prevents the relocation of the Piaggio factory and its closure.
With the end of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), he joins the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS); after that the Democrats of the Left (DS) and then the Democratic Party (PD). In February 2017, he decides to leave the Democratic Party and founds, along with Roberto Speranza and Arturo Scotto, Articolo Uno - Movement of the Democrats and Progressives.
In May 2019 he announces to come back to the Democratic Party.
In October 2019, he was elected vice-president of the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions.
From 2000 to 2010 he's the Regional Minister for Health. Under his leadership, the public health service reaches a level of high quality for the provided services, facilities and technologies. It also achieves a balanced budget.
In 2010 he is elected President of the Tuscany Region for the first time. At the core of his work as a President, besides his defence of employment and production centres, what stand out are the project "Giovani Sì", conceived the help young people achieve independence, "Toscana Solidale", a plan to help improve opportunities for disadvantaged people, the abolition of annuities for politicians and the regional spending review, his battle for commuters' rights, the regional waste disposal plan, the regional landscape plan, his special plan for occupational safety in the Prato district and in the marble district, plan for care and mainainance of the hydrogeological stability. Thanks to his commitment, the Tuscany Region is on the front line for the requalification of the Ports of Livorno and Piombino and attraction of foreign investement.
Enrico Rossi is known for his activity as a left-wing administrator. At the core of his experience, there is the commitment and the struggles for labour and employment, the advancement of rights, the development of infrastructures, the safeguard of the landscape, the reorganisation of the regional governments.
In the past years he has decided to become more involved in the national public debate and has published “Rivoluzione socialista, idee e proposte per cambiare l'Italia” ("Socialist revolution, ideas and propositions to change Italy"), a book containing a long interview by Peppino Caldarola, a former editor of I'Unità (the newspaper founded by Antonio Gramsci) and a former member of the Italian parliament. At the centre of his political elaboration, Rossi places as a precondition for a renewed Left – capable of stopping those on the Right and nationalists – the criticism of Capitalism and the refounding of a progressive field based on the idea of Socialism.