Little-Known Law Professor Gets Nod to Form Italy’s New Government

President appoints Giuseppe Conte as prime minister to head coalition of antiestablishment parties

ROME—Italy’s president on Wednesday asked a political novice chosen by two antiestablishment parties to form a coalition government after more than two months of wrangling touched off by March elections that yielded no clear winner.

President Sergio Mattarella’s appointment of Giuseppe Conte, a little-known law professor with virtually no political experience, marks a long-awaited milestone for the upstart 5 Star Movement and the far-right League, political insurgencies that are causing jitters among the European establishment and...