Christiana Ruggeri

Christiana Ruggeri was born in Rome on 28 January 1969. Her family was originally from Arta Terme in Carnia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, where she continued to spend her summers. Colleagues at Tg2 recalled that she would introduce herself with pride as "friulana", a way of saying that she was practical, unafraid of hard work and hard to beat.

After completing the liceo scientifico, Ruggeri graduated in Lettere moderne (modern literature) from Sapienza University of Rome, specialising in the history of literary criticism. During her first year at university she began writing for Ariel, the journal of the Centro Studi Pirandelliani in Rome.

In the 1990s Ruggeri worked for several Roman radio and television stations, including Radio Luna, Radio Roma, Radio Radio and Teleroma 56, and wrote for the newspapers L'Opinione delle liberta, Momento Sera and the Rome newsroom of Il Giornale.

She joined Tg2, the news service of Rai 2, in 2000, initially on the Costume e Societa desk. From 2005 she worked on the foreign desk, and the same year she made her debut as a presenter with the Tg2 Mistra segment. She then presented Tg2 Costume e Societa for four seasons and anchored weekend editions of the news.

As a correspondent she reported from Haiti, Sierra Leone, Tibet, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on social and environmental issues, receiving several awards for that work. Her Tg2 colleagues said the first great tragedy she covered was the Haiti earthquake. In May 2025 she became caporedattrice (managing editor) of Tg2's science and multimedia desk, which drew her further into environmental reporting. Her final studio appearance was a piece on the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Friuli earthquake, to which she had also devoted an episode of Tg2 Dossier.

La lista di carbone (Mursia, 2008; revised edition Giunti, 2016) was her first novel, connected to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It reached the final five of the Premio Bancarella and won the Premio Citta di Gaeta (first work) and the Premio Com&Te 2008.

Dall'Inferno si ritorna (Giunti, 2015) told the true story of a five year old girl who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide. It won first prize for fiction at the Premio letterario Casentino 2016.

I dannati (Infinito, 2017) was a novel-reportage on the Penitenciaria General de Venezuela in San Juan de los Morros.

Greta e il pianeta da salvare (Il Glifo, 2019) was her first children's book, inspired by Greta Thunberg.

Green Girls. Storie vere di ragazze dalla parte del pianeta (Giunti, 2021) profiled 32 young women defending the environment.

Animali straordinari (Giunti, 2022) gathered 33 true animal stories.

Jane Goodall. Io e gli scimpanze (Editoriale Scienza, 2025) was presented at the Turin Book Fair in May 2025 and won the Premio Asimov Junior in May 2026.

Ferdinand Porsche. Un genio capace di sognare (Giorgio Nada Editore, February 2026) was a novelised biography of the engineer and founder of the Porsche brand.

Ruggeri had a daughter, Grace, to whom Rai and the Unirai Figec union addressed particular condolences. She lived in Rome, kept close ties to Arta Terme in Friuli. She described herself as vegetarian and a devoted mother, and she adopted rescued dogs and cats. At her death she left two shelter dogs, Zeus, a German Shepherd, and Bella.

Ruggeri campaigned against stray animal abandonment and urged her followers to adopt animals from shelters. She said Jane Goodall had inspired her youth as a pioneering woman and had ignited her "infinite passion" and great respect for animals and nature. Of Ferdinand Porsche she said he was a figure who "believed in the strength of the group, in friendship and loyalty".

Rai remembered her as a journalist, writer and author of reportage that "told topics of great relevance with sensitivity and competence". Her books for children remain in use in Italian school presentations and workshops. For twenty years she led the non-profit Il Rifugio delle Code Felici and served as vice president of Greenaccord, the association of environmental journalists.

Premio Bancarella finalist (2008, La lista di carbone). Premio internazionale Citta di Gaeta, Opera prima (2008). Premio Com&Te (2008). Premio letterario Casentino, first prize for fiction (2016, Dall'Inferno si ritorna). Switzerland Literary Prize career award (2022). Stand Out Woman Award for journalism, Sala della Regina, Montecitorio (2022). Premio Storie di Donne, Associazione Occhio dell'Arte (January 2026). Premio Asimov Junior (May 2026, Jane Goodall. Io e gli scimpanze). She also received several awards for her foreign reporting.

Ruggeri presented Tg2 Mistra (from 2005), Tg2 Costume e Societa (four seasons) and weekend editions of Tg2. She gave many book interviews and talks, including at Passaggi Festival and Porsche centres in Milan for her Ferdinand Porsche biography, and posted on X as @chruggeriTg2 about animal welfare.

Ruggeri died in October 2026 at the age of 57. Her death was announced on the evening of 18 October 2026, and reports did not make the cause public. Some sources place the death on 17 October and others on 18 October, so this page records only the month. Rai issued a statement of "profound condolences", Tg2 aired a tribute by colleague Francesca Altomonte, and Unirai Figec, USIGRai, ENPA and former Tg2 director Clemente Mimun paid tribute. On 22 October 2026 the Lega del Cane di Ostia appealed for a family to adopt her rescued dogs Zeus and Bella together.