Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

is the largest

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in terms of area, with a population of over five million and has contributed many famous names to all walks of life. Geographically, it is the largest and most populated island in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. This list includes notable natives of Sicily and its predecessor states, as well as those who were born elsewhere but spent a large part of their active life in Sicily. People of Sicilian heritage and descent are in a separate section of this article. The

Sicilian-Americans Sicilian Americans (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Sìculu-miricani; Italian language, Italian: Siculoamericani'') are Americans of Italian people, Italian Sicilians, Sicilian birth or ancestry. They are a large ethnic group in the United States. ...

have a specific

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

Religious figures

Anthony van Dyck - Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague-stricken of Palermo

Pantaenus Saint Pantaenus the Philosopher ( el, Πάνταινος; died c. 200) was a Greek theologian and a significant figure in the Catechetical School of Alexandria from around AD 180. This school was the earliest catechetical school, and became infl ...

(died 200 AD), theologian, saint * Agatha of Catania (231–251 AD), martyr and saint * Lucy of Syracuse (283–304 AD), martyr and saint *

Saint Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical ...

(c. 290–c. 303 AD), martyr and saint * Euplius (died 304 AD), martyr and saint *

Bassianus of Lodi Bassianus of Lodi ( it, Bassiano di Lodi, la, Bassianus Laudensis; c. 320 – 413) was an Italian saint, the patron saint of Lodi and Pizzighettone in Italy. Biography Born in Syracuse, Sicily, to Sergius, prefect of the city, Bassianus was s ...

(c. 320– c. 409), bishop and saint *

Mamilian of Palermo Saint Mamilian (Mamilianus) of Palermo, who is venerated with Nympha (Ninfa), Eustotius (Eustozio), Proculus (Proculo, Procuro), and Golbodeus (Golbodeo, Golbudeo), was a bishop of Palermo of the fifth century. Mamilian lived in Sicily at a time ...

(died 460), bishop and saint * Olivia of Palermo (448-463), martyr and saint *

Pope Agatho Pope Agatho (died January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by Theodore of Canterbury. D ...

(575–681), Pope from 678 to his death, saint *

Pope Leo II Pope Leo II ( – 28 June 683) was the bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 to his death. He is one of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy. Described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned, he is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Ma ...

(611–683), Pope from 682 to his death, saint *

Pope Sergius I Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked in dispute about wh ...

(650–701), Pope from 687 to his death, saint *

Pope Stephen III Pope Stephen III ( la, Stephanus III; died 1 February 772) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 7 August 768 to his death. Stephen was a Benedictine monk who worked in the Lateran Palace during the reign of Pope Zachary. I ...

(723–772), Pope from 768 to his death *

Methodios I St. Methodios I or Methodius I ( el, Μεθόδιος Α΄), (788/800 – June 14, 847) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 4, 843 to June 14, 847. He was born in Syracuse and died in Constantinople. His feast day is c ...

(788/800–847),

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople ( Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of ...

and saint * Leo Luke of Corleone (815–915), monk and saint *

Joseph the Hymnographer Saint Joseph the Hymnographer ( el, Όσιος Ιωσήφ ο Υμνογράφος) was a Greek monk of the ninth century. He is one of the greatest liturgical poets and hymnographers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is also known for his confessi ...

(816–886), monk and saint *

Elias of Enna Saint Elias of Enna, born John Rachites ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ῥαχίτης; 822/823 in Enna – August 17, 903 in Thessaloniki), is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. Elias is also known as Saint Elias ...

(822 or 823–903), monk and saint * Symeon of Trier (980/990–1035), monk and saint * Filarete of Calabria (c. 1020–1070), monk and saint *

John Theristus John Theristus ( it, Giovanni Theristis; 1049–1129) was an Italian Byzantine monk, called Theristus or “Harvester”. Despite dying almost a century after the Great Schism of 1054, he is notably a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox Chur ...

(1049–1129), monk and saint * Rosalia of Palermo (1130–1166), hermit and saint * Albert of Trapani (1240–1307), friar and saint *

Agostino Novello Agostino Novello (1240 – 19 May 1309), also known as Augustine of Tarano, but born Matteo da Termini, was an Italian religious figure. He was born in the first half of the 13th century, at Termini Imerese, the village in Sicily from which he der ...

(1240–1309), Augustinian friar, scholar and blessed * Nicolò de' Tudeschi "''Panormitanus''", (1386–1445), canonist,

pseudocardinal Pseudocardinals, quasi-cardinals or anticardinals were the uncanonical Cardinals created by six of the Antipopes, in or rival to Rome, including two of Avignon Papacy and one of Pisa, as princes of their schismatic government of the Catholic Ch ...

* Pietro Geremia (1399–1452), Dominican preacher and blessed * Eustochia Smeralda Calafato (1434–1485), Franciscan hermitess and saint * Luigi Rabatà (1443–1490), Carmelite priest and blessed * Benedict the Moor (1526–1589), friar and saint * Giordano Ansaloni (1598–1634), Dominican missionary and saint * Bernard of Corleone (1605–1667), friar and saint * Prospero Intorcetta (1626–1696), Jesuit missionary *

Giuseppe Maria Tomasi Joseph Mary Tomasi ( it, Giuseppe Maria Tomasi di Lampedusa)(12 September 1649 – 1 January 1713) was an Italian Theatine Catholic priest, scholar, reformer and cardinal. His scholarship was a significant source of the reforms in the li ...

(1649–1713), Theatine priest, cardinal and saint * Giovanni Battista Sidotti (1668–1714), priest, missionary *

Felix of Nicosia Felix of Nicosia ( it, Felice di Nicosia; November 5, 1715 – May 31, 1787) was a Capuchin friar, and is honored as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Life He was born Filippo Giacomo Amoroso in Nicosia, Sicily on 5 November 1715,

(1715–1787), Capuchin friar and saint * Giacomo Cusmano (1834–1888), priest and blessed *

Mariano Rampolla Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro (17 August 1843 – 16 December 1913) was an Italian Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and the last man to have his candidacy for papal election vetoed through ''jus exclusivae'' by a Catholic monarch. Early li ...

(1843–1913), cardinal secretary of state * Annibale Maria di Francia (1851–1927), priest and saint * Carolina Santocanale (1852–1923), nun and blessed * Maria Crocifissa Curcio (1877–1957), Carmelite nun and blessed *

Gabriele Allegra Gabriele Allegra ( zh, 雷永明, 26 December 1907 – 26 January 1976) was a Franciscan Friar and Biblical scholar. He is best known for accomplishing the first complete translation of the Catholic Bible into the Chinese language. His Studium B ...

(1907–1976), Franciscan missionary, translator and blessed * Giuseppina Suriano (1915–1950), Catholic activist and blessed *

Salvatore Pappalardo Salvatore Pappalardo (23 September 1918 – 10 December 2006) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Palermo for over 25 years, from 1970 to 1996. He was the first senior clergyman from Sicily to speak out ag ...

(1918–2006), archbishop and cardinal * Francesco Spoto (1924–1964), priest, missionary and blessed *

Pino Puglisi Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (, ; 15 September 1937 – 15 September 1993) was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio. He openly challenged the Mafia who controlled the neighbourhood, and was killed by them on hi ...

(1937–1993), priest and blessed

Philosophers and scientists

Empedocles Empedocles (; grc-gre, Ἐμπεδοκλῆς; , 444–443 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating the cosmogonic theory of the ...

(c. 490–430 BC), scientist and philosopher *

Acron Acron ( grc-gre, Ἄκρων), son of Xenon, was a Medicine in ancient Greece, Greek physician born at Agrigentum (Gk. Acragas). Life The exact dates of Acron is not known; but, as he is mentioned as being contemporary with Empedocles, who died ...

(5th century BC), physician * Gorgias (c. 483–375 BC), philosopher *

Hicetas Hicetas ( grc, Ἱκέτας or ; c. 400 – c. 335 BC) was a Greek philosopher of the Pythagorean School. He was born in Syracuse. Like his fellow Pythagorean Ecphantus and the Academic Heraclides Ponticus, he believed that the daily movemen ...

(c. 400–c. 335 BC), philosopher *

Monimus Monimus (; grc-gre, Μόνιμος; 4th century BC) of Syracuse, was a Cynic philosopher who endorsed philosophical skepticism, denying that there was a criterion of truth. Biography According to Diogenes Laërtius, Monimus was the slave of a C ...

(c. 399–300 BC), philosopher * Menecrates of Syracuse (4th century BC), physician * Euhemerus (c. 330–250 a.C.), philosopher *

Dicaearchus Dicaearchus of Messana (; grc-gre, Δικαίαρχος ''Dikaiarkhos''; ), also written Dikaiarchos (), was a Greek philosopher, geographer and author. Dicaearchus was a student of Aristotle in the Lyceum. Very little of his work remains exta ...

(c. 350–c. 285 BC), philosopher, cartographer, geographer, mathematician * Archimedes (c. 287 – 212 BC), engineer and mathematician *

Constantine the African Constantine the African ( la, Constantinus Africanus; died before 1098/1099, Monte Cassino) was a physician who lived in the 11th century. The first part of his life was spent in Ifriqiya and the rest in Italy. He first arrived in Italy in the ...

(c. 1020 – 1087),

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

Giovanni Aurispa Giovanni Aurispa Piciunerio (or Piciuneri) (June/July 1376–c. 25 May 1459) was an Italian historian and savant of the 15th century. He is remembered in particular as a promoter of the revival of the study of Greek in Italy. It is to Aurispa that ...

(1376–1459), anthropologist * Francesco Maurolico (1494–1575), mathematician * Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia (1510–1580), physician, anatomist * Giovanni Battista Hodierna (1597–1660), astronomer * Paolo Boccone (1633–1704), botanist *

Tommaso Campailla Tommaso Campailla (7 April 1668 – 7 February 1740) was an Italian philosopher, doctor, politician, poet and teacher. Life Campailla was born in Modica in 1668 to the aristocratic family of Antonio and Adriana Giardina. When sixteen years o ...

(1668–1740), philosopher, doctor, poet * Francesco Paolo Cantelli (1875–1966), mathematician *

Orso Mario Corbino Orso Mario Corbino (30 April 1876, Augusta – 23 January 1937, Rome) was an Italian physicist and politician. His younger brother was Epicarmo Corbino. He served as the minister for education in 1921 and as the minister for economy in 1921. H ...

(1876–1937), physicist *

Leonardo Ximenes Leonardo Ximenes (27 December 1716 – 3 May 1786) was a famous Italian Jesuit"XIMENE ...

(1716–1786), mathematician, engineer, astronomer, geographer * Bernardino da Ucria (1739–1796), botanist *

Giuseppe Piazzi Giuseppe Piazzi ( , ; 16 July 1746 – 22 July 1826) was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the '' Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe S ...

(1746–1826), astronomer, discovered the minor planet

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

Niccolò Cacciatore Niccolò Cacciatore (; 26 January 1770 – 28 January 1841) was an Italian astronomer. Cacciatore was born at Casteltermini, in Sicily. While studying mathematics and physics in Palermo, he became acquainted with Giuseppe Piazzi, head of the Pa ...

(1780–1841), astronomer * Vincenzo Tineo (1791–1856), botanist * Gioacchino Ventura di Raulica (1792–1861), philosopher *

Filippo Parlatore Filippo Parlatore (Palermo, 8 August 1816 – Florence, 9 September 1877) was an Italian botanist. He studied medicine at Palermo, but practiced only for a short time, his chief activity being during the cholera epidemic of 1837. Although at tha ...

(1816–1877), botanist *

Stanislao Cannizzaro Stanislao Cannizzaro ( , also , ; 13 July 1826 – 10 May 1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860. Biograph ...

(1826–1910), chemist *

Giuseppe Seguenza Giuseppe Seguenza (June 8, 1833 in Messina – February 3, 1889 in Messina) was an Italian naturalist and geologist. Early life Giuseppe Seguenza was born on June 8, 1833, in Italy. Because his father expected him to follow in his footsteps a ...

(1833–1889), naturalist, geologist *

Giuseppe Sergi Giuseppe Sergi (March 20, 1841 – October 17, 1936) was an Italian anthropologist of the early twentieth century, best known for his opposition to Nordicism in his books on the racial identity of Mediterranean peoples. He rejected existing racia ...

(1841–1936), anthropologist * Gaetano Mosca (1858–1941), political scientist *

Silvio Micali Silvio Micali (born October 13, 1954) is an Italian computer scientist, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founder of Algorand. Micali's research centers on cryptography and information security. In 2012, he received ...

(born 1954), computer scientists and Turing award recipient *

Gaspare Mignosi Gaspare Mignósi (1875, Palermo – 1951, Palermo) was an Italian mathematician. Mignosi became in 1930 a professor of mathematical analysis at the University of Cagliari and in 1932 a professor at the University of Palermo. He continued the studi ...

(1875–1951), mathematician *

Gaetano Fichera Gaetano Fichera (8 February 1922 – 1 June 1996) was an Italian mathematician, working in mathematical analysis, linear elasticity, partial differential equations and several complex variables. He was born in Acireale, and died in Rome. Biog ...

(1922–1996), mathematician * Giuseppe Lauricella (1867–1913), mathematician *

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

(1875–1944), philosopher *

José Ingenieros José Ingenieros (born Giuseppe Ingegnieri, April 24, 1877October 31, 1925) was an Argentine physician, pharmacist, positivist philosopher and essayist. He was born in Palermo (Italy), and graduated from the University of Buenos Aires School ...

(1877–1925), physician, pharmacist, philosopher *

Michele Cipolla Michele Cipolla (28 October 1880, Palermo – 7 September 1947, Palermo) was an Italians, Italian mathematician, mainly specializing in Number Theory, number theory. He was a professor of Algebraic Analysis at the University of Catania and, l ...

(1880–1947), mathematician * Mauro Picone (1885–1977), mathematician * Giuseppe Oddo (1865–1954), chemist * Emanuele Paternò (1847–1935), chemist *

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into t ...

(1886–1960), aviation inventor * Giovanni Sansone (1888–1979), mathematician * David J. Impastato (1903–1986), neuropsychiatrist *

Giuseppe Gabrielli Giuseppe Gabrielli (26 February 1903 – 29 November 1987) was an Italian aeronautics engineer. He is famous as the designer of numerous Italian military aircraft, including the Fiat G.50 Freccia and G.55 World War II fighters. He was born in ...

(1903–1987), aeronautics engineer * Michele Parrinello (born 1945), physicist * Antonino Lo Surdo (1880–1949), physicist *

Ettore Majorana Ettore Majorana (,, uploaded 19 April 2013, retrieved 14 December 2019 ; born on 5 August 1906 – possibly dying after 1959) was an Italian theoretical physicist who worked on neutrino masses. On 25 March 1938, he disappeared under mysteri ...

(1906–?), physicist *

Quirino Majorana Quirino Majorana (28 October 1871 – 31 July 1957) was an Italian experimental physicist who investigated a wide range of phenomena during his long career as professor of physics at the Universities of Rome, Turin (1916–1921), and Bologna (192 ...

(1871–1957), physicist *

Antonino Zichichi Antonino may refer to: * Antonino (name), a given name and a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Antonino, Kansas, an unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas, United States See also * Antoniano (disambiguation) * Antoñ ...

(born 1929), physicist *

Luca Parmitano Colonel Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also a Colonel and ...

(born 1976), engineer and astronaut *

Vito Latora Vito Latora is an Italian physicist, currently Professor in Applied Mathematics (Chair of Complex Systems) at the School of Mathematical Sciences of the Queen Mary University of London. He is known for his works on complex systems, in particular ...

(born 1971), physicist * Flavia Sparacino (born 1966) *

Napoleone Ferrara Napoleone Ferrara (born 26 July 1956, Catania), is an Italian-American molecular biologist who joined University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a career in Northern California at the biotechnology giant Genentech, ...

(born 1956)

Writers and journalists

Epicharmus of Kos Epicharmus of Kos or Epicharmus Comicus or Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίχαρμος ὁ Κῷος), thought to have lived between c. 550 and c. 460 BC, was a Greek dramatist and philosopher who is often credited wit ...

(c. 524–c. 435 BC), comic poet, dramatist, philosopher *

Antiochus of Syracuse Antiochus of Syracuse ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Συρακούσιος) was a Greek historian, who flourished around 420 BC. Little is known of Antiochus' life, but his works, of which only fragments remain, enjoyed a high reputation because ...

(5th century BC), historian *

Corax of Syracuse Corax ( el, Κόραξ, ''Korax''; fl. 5th century BC) was one of the founders (along with Tisias) of ancient Greek rhetoric. Some scholars contend that both founders are merely legendary personages, others that Corax and Tisias were the same per ...

(5th century BC), rhetorician *

Sophron Sophron of Syracuse ( grc-gre, Σώφρων ὁ Συρακούσιος, ''fl.'' 430 BC) was a writer of mimes. Sophron was the author of prose dialogues in the Doric dialect, containing both male and female characters, some serious, others humorou ...

(5th century BC), writer of mimes *

Lysias Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace i ...

(c. 445–c. 380 BC), logographer, jurist * Philistus (c. 432–356 BC), historian * Carcinus (c. 420–360 BC), dramatist *

Archestratus Archestratus ( grc-gre, Ἀρχέστρατος ''Archestratos'') was an ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic poe ...

(4th century BC), poet *

Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to: * ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato *Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue *Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Greek ...

(c. 345–250 BC), historian *

Rhinthon Rhinthon ( grc-gre, Ῥίνθων, ''gen''.: Ῥίνθωνος; c. 323 – 285 BC) was a Hellenistic dramatist. The son of a potter, he was probably a native of Syracuse and afterwards settled at Tarentum. He invented the '' hilarotragoedia,'' a ...

(c. 323–285 BC), dramatist *

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

(c. 310–250 BC), poet * Diodorus Siculus (c. 90–30 BC), historian *

Julius Firmicus Maternus __NOTOC__ Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Roman Latin writer and astrologer, who received a pagan classical education that made him conversant with Greek; he lived in the reign of Constantine I (306 to 337 AD) and his successors. His triple career m ...

(4th century AD), writer, astrologer *

Ibn Hamdis Ibn Ḥamdīs al-ʾAzdī al-Ṣīqillī () ( 1056 – c. 1133) was a Sicilian Arab poet. Ibn Hamdis was born in Syracuse, south eastern Sicily, around 447 AH (1056 AD). Little is known of his youth, which can be reconstructed only through a l ...

(1056–1133), poet *

Eugenius of Palermo Eugenius of Palermo (also Eugene) ( la, Eugenius Siculus, el, Εὐγενἠς Εὐγένιος ὁ τῆς Πανόρμου, it, Eugenio da Palermo; 1130 – 1202) was an '' amiratus'' (admiral) of the Kingdom of Sicily in the late twelfth cen ...

(c. 1130–1202), translator *

Cielo d'Alcamo Cielo d'Alcamo (; also spelled Ciullo) was an Italians, Italian poet, born in the early 13th century. He is considered one of the fathers of Italian medieval jester poetry. His traditional surname (which would mean "from Alcamo", a town in northwe ...

(13th century), poet * Nina Siciliana (13th century), poet * Stefano Protonotaro da Messina (13th century), poet *

Giacomo da Lentini Giacomo da Lentini, also known as Jacopo da Lentini or with the appellative Il Notaro, was an Italian poet of the 13th century. He was a senior poet of the Sicilian School and was a notary at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Gi ...

(1210–1260), poet *

Guido Delle Colonne Guido delle Colonne (in Latin Guido de Columnis or de Columna) was a 13th-century Italian judge and writer, who lived in Messina. He is the author of a prose narrative of the Trojan War entitled ''Historia destructionis Troiae'' ("History of the d ...

(1215–1290), poet * Antonio Beccadelli (1394–1471), poet, historian *

Pietro Ranzano Pietro Ranzano (Palermo, 1428–Lucera, 1492) was an Italian Dominican friar, bishop, historian, humanist and scholar who is best known for his work, '' De primordiis et progressu felicis Urbis Panormi'', a history of the city of Palermo from it ...

(1428–1492), historian * Lucio Marineo (1444–1533), humanist, historian * Giovanni Luca Barberi (1452–1520), historian * Cataldo Parisio (1455–1517), humanist *

Tommaso Fazello Tommaso Fazello (New Latin ''Fazellus'', 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: ''De Rebus Sicu ...

(1498–1570), historian * Nicoletta Pasquale (16th century), poet * Antonio Veneziano (1543–1593), poet *

Sebastiano Bagolino Sebastiano Bagolino was a Latin poet and scholar. Biography He was born in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, from Giovan Leonardo, a painter, and Caterina Tabone.F. M. Mirabella, Cenni degli alcamesi rinomati in scienze, lettere, arti, armi e ...

(1562–1604), poet, scholar * Pietro Fullone (1600–1670), poet * Filadelfo Mugnos (1607–1675), historian, genealogist, poet * Giuseppe Artale (1632–1679), poet *

Giovanni Meli Giovanni Meli (4 March 1740 – 20 December 1815) was an Italian poet. Meli was born in Palermo. , after studying philosophy and medicine he worked as a doctor in Cinisi in the province of Palermo. It was during this early period of his life th ...

(1740–1815), poet * Domenico Tempio (1750–1821), poet *

Michele Amari Michele Amari (7 July 1806 – 16 July 1889) was a Sicilian patriot, historian and orientalist. Biography Born at Palermo son of Ferdinando and Giulia Venturelli, he devoted a great part of his life to the history of Sicily. Amari was also a ...

(1806–1889), historian, orientalist, politician *

Gabriele Dara Gabriele Dara the Younger (8 January 1826 – 15 November 1885), commonly known as Gavril Dara Junior ( sq, Gavril Dara i Ri, links=no, it, Gabriele Dara il Giovane, links=no), was an Arbëreshë politician and poet of the 19th century. He is ...

(1826–1885), Arbëreshë poet, politician *

Luigi Capuana Luigi Capuana (May 28, 1839 – November 29, 1915) was an Italian author and journalist and one of the most important members of the ''verist'' movement (see also ''verismo'' (literature)). He was a contemporary of Giovanni Verga, both having ...

(1839–1915), writer *

Giovanni Verga Giovanni Carmelo Verga di Fontanabianca (; 2 September 1840 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian realist ('' verista'') writer, best known for his depictions of life in his native Sicily, especially the short story and later play ''Cavalleria ...

(1840–1922), novelist *

Giuseppe Pitrè Giuseppe Pitrè (22 December 184110 April 1916) was an Italian folklorist, medical doctor, professor, and senator for Sicily. As a folklorist he is credited with extending the realm of folklore to include all manifestations of popular life. He is ...

(1841–1916), historian *

Mario Rapisardi Mario Rapisardi (25 February 1844, in Catania – 4 January 1912, in Catania) was an Italian poet, supporter of Risorgimento and member of the Scapigliatura (definition but refused). Life As a boy, he was taught "grammar, rhetoric and the Latin ...

(1844–1912), poet *

Napoleone Colajanni Napoleone Colajanni ( Castrogiovanni, 27 April 1847 – Castrogiovanni, 2 September 1921) was an Italian writer, journalist, criminologist, socialist and politician. In the 1880s he abandoned republicanism for socialism, and became Italy's leadin ...

(1847–1921), writer, journalist, politician *

Pietro Gori Pietro Gori (August 1, 1865–January 8, 1911) was an Italian lawyer, journalist, intellectual and anarchist poet. He is known for his political activities, and as author of some of the most famous anarchist songs of the late 19th century, i ...

(1865–1911), journalist, poet *

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

(1867–1936), dramatist, Nobel laureate * Nino Martoglio (1870–1921), writer, dramatist * Maria Messina (1887–1944), writer of short fiction, novelist *

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, 11th Prince of Lampedusa, 12th Duke of Palma, GE (; 23 December 1896 – 23 July 1957) was an Italian writer and the last Prince of Lampedusa. He is most famous for his only novel, '' Il Gattopardo'' (first publish ...

(1896–1957), writer, poet *

Ignazio Buttitta Ignazio Buttitta (19 September 1899 – 5 April 1997) was an Italian poet who wrote predominantly in Sicilian. Biography Born at Bagheria, Italy into a merchant's family, after having taken part in World War I Buttitta joined the Italian Social ...

(1899–1997), poet *

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

(1901–1968), poet, Nobel laureate * Ercole Patti (1903–1976), writer *

Vitaliano Brancati Vitaliano Brancati (; 24 July 1907 – 25 September 1954) was an Italian novelist, dramatist, poet and screenwriter. Biography Born in Pachino, Syracuse, Brancati studied in Catania, where he graduated in letters and where he spent the most pa ...

(1907–1954), writer *

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work is the anti-fascist novel '' Co ...

(1908–1966), writer *

Helle Busacca alt=The poet circa 1950 Helle Busacca (; San Piero Patti, 21 December 1915 – Florence, 15 January 1996) was an Italian poet, painter, and writer. Life Born in a well-to-do family in San Piero Patti, Province of Messina, Sicily, Helle Busacca ...

(1915–1996), poet *

Gesualdo Bufalino Gesualdo Bufalino (; Comiso, Italy, 15 November 1920 – 14 June 1996), was an Italian writer. Biography Gesualdo Bufalino was born in Comiso, Sicily. He studied literature and was a high-school professor in his hometown, for most of his life ...

(1920–1996), writer *

Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), ''Cadaveri Eccellent ...

(1921–1989), writer, politician *

Vince Colletta Vincenzo CollettaColletta, Vince, in (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991) was an American Comic book creator, comic book artist and art director best known as one of Jack Kirby's frequent inkers during the 1950s-1960s period called the Silver Age ...

(1923–1991), comic book artist, art director *

Andrea Camilleri Andrea Calogero Camilleri (; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian writer. Biography Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, ...

(1925–2019), novelist * Giuseppe Fava (1925–1984), writer and dramatist *

Mario Francese Mario Francese (; 6 February 1925 – 26 January 1979) was an Italian crime reporter of the ''Giornale di Sicilia''. He was the first journalist to expose the role of Toto Riina and the Corleonesi within the Sicilian Mafia, and because of this ...

(1925–1979), journalist * Maria Costa (1926–2016), poet *

Candido Cannavò Candido Cannavò (; 29 November 1930 – 22 February 2009) was an Italian journalist, well known as the historical editor (1983–2002) of the Italian sport newspaper ''La Gazzetta dello Sport''. Biography Cannavò was born in Catania and beg ...

(1930–2009) sports journalist *

Santi Visalli Santi Visalli is an American photographer and photojournalist who covered the news from social issues to politics to lifestyles to entertainment for over 40 years beginning in the 1960s. Biography Born in Messina, Sicily, Santi Visalli left ...

(born 1932), photojournalist *

Vincenzo Consolo Vincenzo Consolo (18 February 1933 – 21 January 2012) was an Italian writer. Consolo was born in Sant'Agata di Militello, but resided in Milan from 1969 until his death. He began his literary career in 1963, but gained wider attention in 19 ...

(1933–2012), novelist * Dacia Maraini (born 1936), novelist * Gaetano Cipolla (born 1937), Sicilian-to-English translator, author, publisher of the journal '' Arba Sicula'' *

Emma Baeri Emma Baeri (born July 11, 1942) is a Sicilian feminist historian and essayist. She has played an active role in organizing feminist political action and literary life in Italy along with her academic career. Biography Emma Baeri was born in Paler ...

(born 1942), feminist historian, political scientist *

Peppino Impastato Giuseppe "Peppino" Impastato (; January 5, 1948 – May 9, 1978), was an Italian political activist who opposed the Mafia, which ordered his murder in 1978. Childhood Giuseppe "Peppino" Impastato was born in Cinisi, in the then province of Pa ...

(1948–1978), journalist, political activist * Marcello Sorgi (born 1955), writer, journalist * Lara Cardella (born 1969), novelist *

Melissa Panarello Melissa Panarello (born 3 December 1985, in Catania, Italy), alias Melissa P., is an Italian writer. Biography Panarello grew up in the small Sicilian town of Aci Castello, near Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second larg ...

(born 1985), novelist

Rulers, monarchs and warriors

Palazzo Reale di Napoli - Ruggero il Normanno

Phalaris Phalaris ( el, Φάλαρις) was the tyrant of Akragas (now Agrigento) in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 BC. History Phalaris was renowned for his excessive cruelty. Among his alleged atrocities is cannibalism: he was said to have e ...

(died 555 or 554 BC), tyrant of Akragas * Theron (c. 535–472 BC), tyrant of Akragas *

Diocles of Syracuse Diocles of Syracuse ( el, Διοκλῆς) was a legislator, orator, and political and military leader in the Greek city-state of Syracuse toward the end of the 5th century BC. Only a few years of his life have an historical account, from 413 to 408 ...

(5th century BC), legislator and military leader *

Gelo Gelon also known as Gelo (Greek: Γέλων ''Gelon'', ''gen.'': Γέλωνος; died 478 BC), son of Deinomenes, was a Greek tyrant of the Sicilian cities Gela and Syracuse, and first of the Deinomenid rulers. Early life Gelon was the son o ...

(died 478 BC), tyrant of Gela and Syracuse *

Hiero I Hieron I ( el, Ἱέρων Α΄; usually Latinized Hiero) was the son of Deinomenes, the brother of Gelon and tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily from 478 to 467 BC. In succeeding Gelon, he conspired against a third brother, Polyzelos. Life During hi ...

(died 467 or 466), tyrant of Gela and Syracuse *

Ducetius Ducetius ( grc, Δουκέτιος) (died 440 BCE) was a Hellenized leader of the Sicels and founder of a united Sicilian state and numerous cities.LiviusDucetius of Sicily Retrieved on 25 April 2006. It is thought he may have been born around ...

(died 440 BC), king of the Sicels * Dionysius I (432 – 367 BC), tyrant of Syracuse * Dion (408 – 354 BC), tyrant of Syracuse, friend of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

Hermocrates Hermocrates (; grc-gre, Ἑρμοκράτης, c. 5th century – 407 BC) was an ancient Syracusan general during the Athenians' Sicilian Expedition in the midst of the Peloponnesian War. He is also remembered as a character in the '' Timaeus'' ...

(died 407 BC), Syracusan general *

Charondas Charondas ( grc-gre, Χαρώνδας) was a celebrated lawgiver of Catania in Sicily. It is uncertain when he lived; some identify him as a pupil of Pythagoras (c. 580 – 504 BC), but all that can be said is that he lived earlier tha ...

(4th century), lawgiver * Dionysius II (397 – 343 BC), tyrant of Syracuse *

Timoleon Timoleon ( Greek: Τιμολέων), son of Timodemus, of Corinth (c. 411–337 BC) was a Greek statesman and general. As a brilliant general, a champion of Greece against Carthage, and a fighter against despotism, he is closely connected ...

(411 – 337 BC), tyrant of Syracuse *

Agathocles Agathocles ( Greek: ) is a Greek name, the most famous of which is Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from , ''agathos'', i.e. "good" and , ''kleos'', i.e. "glory". Other personalities named Agathocles: *Agathocles ...

(361 – 289 BC), tyrant of Syracuse * Hicetas of Leontini (died 338 BC), tyrant of Leontini *

Hiero II Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus a ...

(c. 308–c. 215 BC), tyrant of Syracuse *

Antander Antander ( gr, Ἄντανδρος - or Andro as he is called by the historian Orosius) was a man of Syracuse of the 3rd and 4th centuries BCE. He was the older brother of Agathocles, king of Syracuse, and was a commander -- or ''strategos'' -- of t ...

(4th century BC–3rd century BC), strategos * Epicydes (3rd century BC), tyrant of Syracuse * Lanassa (3rd century BC), queen consort of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

and

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

Hieronymus Hieronymus, in English pronounced or , is the Latin form of the Ancient Greek name (Hierṓnymos), meaning "with a sacred name". It corresponds to the English given name Jerome. Variants * Albanian: Jeronimi * Arabic: جيروم (Jerome) * Basq ...

, (231–214 BC), tyrant of Syracuse * Euphemius (9th century AD), admiral * al-Hasan al-Kalbi (r. 948 – 964 AD), founder of the Emirate of Sicily * Jawhar al-Siqilli (966–992), general of the Fatimid Caliphate *

Roger I Roger I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Roger I of Carcassonne (died 1012), Count of Carcassonne * Roger I of Tosny (), Norman noble * Roger I "de Berkeley" (died 1093), Norman noble, possibly the son of Roger I of Tosny - see Baron ...

(1031–1101), founder of the

County of Sicily The County of Sicily, also known as County of Sicily and Calabria, was a Norman state comprising the islands of Sicily and Malta and part of Calabria from 1071 until 1130. The county began to form during the Christian reconquest of Sicily (106 ...

Felicia The name Felicia derives from the Latin adjective '' felix'', meaning "happy, lucky", though in the neuter plural form ''felicia'' it literally means "happy things" and often occurred in the phrase ''tempora felicia'', "happy times". The sense o ...

(1078–1102), queen consort of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Roger II Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...

(1095-1154), king of Sicily *

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

(1131–1166), king of Sicily * William II (1155–1189), king of Sicily * Tancred (1138–1194), king of Sicily * William III (1186–1198), king of Sicily * Constance I (1154–1198), queen of Sicily, Holy Roman Empress * Frederick II (1194–1250), king of Sicily, Holy Roman Emperor * Henry VII (1211–1242), king of Sicily and Germany *

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. Byr ...

(1232–1266), king of Sicily * Constance II (1249–1302), queen consort of Aragon and Sicily * Frederick III (1272–1337), king of Sicily * Peter II (1304–1342), king of Sicily * Constance (1305–1344), queen consort of Jerusalem and Cyprus and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

(1325–1375), queen consort of Aragon *

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

(1338–1355), king of Sicily * Frederick IV (1341–1377), king of Sicily *

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

(1363–1401), queen of Sicily *

Costanza Chiaramonte Costanza Chiaramonte ( – 1423) was a queen consort of Naples in 1389-1392, married to King Ladislaus of Naples. With changing political circumstances, their marriage was annulled. Life Costanza was a daughter of Manfredi III Chiaramonte, count of ...

(1377–1423), queen consort of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

* Ferdinand II (1810–1859), king of the Two Sicilies

Politicians, civil servants and military personnel

Sergio Mattarella Presidente della Repubblica Italiana

* Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marquess of Squillace (1699–1785), statesman * Federico Carlo Gravina (1756–1806), admiral of Spain * Francesco Paolo Di Blasi (1753/1755–1795), jurist, revolutionary * Carlo Cottone (1756–1829), politician *

Ruggero Settimo Ruggero Settimo (19 May 1778 – 2 May 1863) was an Italian politician, diplomat, and patriotic activist from Sicily. He was a counter-admiral of the Sicilian Fleet. He fought alongside the British fleet in the Mediterranean Sea against th ...

(1776–1863), politician * Giuseppe La Farina (1815–1863), politician *

Giuseppe Natoli Giuseppe Natoli Gongora di Scaliti (9 June 1815 – 25 September 1867) was an Italian lawyer and politician from the Mediterranean island of Sicily. He was Minister of Agriculture under Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, in the first government o ...

(1815–1867), politician * Francesco Crispi (1819–1901), politician, 11th Prime Minister of Italy * Emanuele Notarbartolo (1834–1893), politician * Antonio Starabba, Marquess of Rudinì (1839–1908), politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy * Antonino Paternò Castello, Marquess of San Giuliano (1852–1914), diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (19 May 1860 – 1 December 1952) was an Italian statesman, who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from October 1917 to June 1919. Orlando is best known for representing Italy in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference with h ...

(1860–1952), politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Italy * Pietro Lanza di Scalea (1863–1938), politician *

Luigi Sturzo Luigi Sturzo (; 26 November 1871 – 8 August 1959) was an Italian Catholic priest and prominent politician. He was known in his lifetime as a "clerical socialist" and is considered one of the fathers of the Christian democratic platform. He w ...

(1871–1959), politician *

Guido Jung Guido Jung (2 February 1876 – 25 December 1949) was a successful Jewish-born Italian banker and merchant from Sicily. He was a member of the Grand Council of Fascism and served as Italian Minister of Finance from 1932-35 under Benito Mussoli ...

(1876–1949), banker, politician *

Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile (26 June 1878–14 January 1964) was an Italian politician. Biography He was born in Lercara Friddi on 26 June 1878 as the son of Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile, a liberal politician and several times minister, and the Sicil ...

(1878–1964), politician * Gaspare Ambrosini (1886–1986), judge, politician *

Luigi Rizzo Luigi Rizzo, 1st Count of Grado and Premuda (1887–1951), nicknamed ''the Sinker'', was an Italian admiral. He is mostly known for his distinguished service in World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviat ...

(1887–1951), admiral *

Gaetano Martino Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian politician, physician, and university teacher. Early life and medicine Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in Messina, Sicily, son of its Mayor Antonino Martino. He graduated in med ...

(1900–1967), politician *

Vincent R. Impellitteri Vincent Richard Impellitteri (born Vincenzo Impellitteri; February 4, 1900 – January 29, 1987) was an American politician and judge who served as the 101st Mayor of New York City, 1950–53. He was elected as a Democrat as president of the City ...

(1900–1987), politician, mayor of New York City *

Mario Scelba Mario Scelba (5 September 1901 – 29 October 1991) was an Italian politician who served as the 33rd prime minister of Italy from February 1954 to July 1955. A founder of the Christian Democracy, Scelba was one of the longest-serving Minister of ...

(1901–1991), politician * Filippo Anfuso (1901–1963), diplomat, politician *

Ugo La Malfa Ugo La Malfa (16 May 1903 – 26 March 1979) was an Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party (''Partito Repubblicano Italiano''; PRI). Early years and anti-fascist resistance La Malfa was born in Palermo, Sic ...

(1903–1979), politician *

Giorgio La Pira Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence. He also served as deputy of the Christian Democrats and participated in the assemb ...

(1904–1977), politician * Giuseppe Alessi (1905–2009), politician * Antonio Canepa (1908–1945), politician, revolutionary *

Placido Rizzotto Placido Rizzotto (; 2 January 1914 – 10 March 1948) was an Italian partisan, socialist peasant and trade union leader from Corleone, who was kidnapped and murdered by Sicilian Mafia boss Luciano Leggio on 10 March 1948. Before he was killed, R ...

(1914–1948), trade union leader *

Antonino Caponnetto Antonino Caponnetto (5 September 1920 – 6 December 2002) was an Italian Antimafia magistrate. Biography Caponnetto was born in Caltanissetta in 1920. His career began in 1954 in Florence, but he became famous only in 1983, after Rocc ...

(1920–2002), judge * Cesare Terranova (1921–1979), judge, politician *

Rocco Chinnici Rocco Chinnici (, ; 19 January 1925 – 29 July 1983) was a noted Italian anti-Mafia magistrate killed by the Sicilian Mafia. Life Born at Misilmeri, Chinnici graduated in law at the University of Palermo in 1947 and started working as a magist ...

(1925–1983), judge *

Pio La Torre Pio La Torre (; 24 December 1927 – 30 April 1982) was a leader of the Italian Communist Party (''Partito Comunista Italiano'', PCI). He was killed by the Mafia after he initiated a law that introduced a new crime in the Italian legal system, maf ...

(1927–1982), politician * Boris Giuliano (1930–1979), policeman *

Piersanti Mattarella Piersanti Mattarella (; 24 May 1935 – 6 January 1980) was an Italian politician. He was assassinated by the Mafia while he held the position of President of the Regional Government of Sicily. He was the brother of Sergio Mattarella, who ha ...

(1935–1980), politician *

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

(1939–1992), judge *

Paolo Borsellino Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; scn, Pàulu Borsellino; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying t ...

(1940–1992), judge *

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...

(born 1941), judge, politician, current president of

* Antonio Martino (born 1942), politician * Pietro Grasso (born 1945), judge, politician * Ninni Cassarà (1947–1985), policeman *

Ignazio La Russa Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa (born 18 July 1947) is an Italian politician who is serving as President of the Senate of the Republic since 13 October 2022. He is the first politician with a neo-fascist background to hold the position of Presid ...

(born 1947), politician *

Leoluca Orlando Leoluca Orlando (born 1 August 1947), is an Italian politician, Mayor of Palermo for over twenty years and President of Italian Federation of American Football (FIDAF). He is best known for his strong opposition to the Sicilian Mafia during his m ...

(born 1947), politician *

Renato Schifani Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani (; born 11 May 1950
.) is an Italian politician who has served as the

(born 1950), politician *

Rosario Livatino Rosario Angelo Livatino (; October 3, 1952 – September 21, 1990) was an Italian magistrate who was killed by Stidda. Biography Livatino was born in Canicattì, in Sicily. After successfully completing high school, he entered the university La ...

(1952–1990), judge *

Anna Finocchiaro Anna Finocchiaro Fidelbo (; born 31 March 1955) is an Italian politician. She was the Democratic Party's leader in the Senate from 2007 to 2013. She served as Minister for Equal Opportunities in the cabinet of Romano Prodi from 1996 to 1998. Bio ...

(born 1955), politician *

Angelino Alfano Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the ...

(born 1970), politician *

Alfonso Bonafede Alfonso Bonafede (born 2 July 1976) is an Italian lawyer and politician who has served as the Italian Minister of Justice since 1 June 2018. A lawyer by profession, Bonafede has also served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 15 March 2 ...

(born 1976), politician * Antonin Scalia (1936–2016), U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice

Painters, sculptors and architects

Antonello da Messina - Portrait of a Man - National Gallery London

Antonello da Messina Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...

(1430–1479), painter * Riccardo Quartararo (1443–1506), painter * Girolamo Alibrandi (1470–1524), painter * Antonello Gagini (1478–1536), sculptor *

Giacomo del Duca Giacomo Del Duca (c. 1520 – 1604) was an Italian sculptor and architect during the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. He is most remembered for assisting Michelangelo in a number of projects in Rome, including the sculpture and construction ...

(1520–1604), sculptor, architect *

Tommaso Laureti Tommaso Laureti, often called Tommaso Laureti Siciliano (c. 1530 — 22 September 1602), was an Italian painter from Sicily who trained in the atelier of the aged Sebastiano del Piombo and worked in Bologna. From 1582, he worked for papal patrons ...

(1530–1602), painter * Natale Masuccio (1561–1619), Jesuit architect *

Mariano Smiriglio Mariano Smiriglio (1561 – 1636) was a Sicilian architect, painter and decorator, active in a Mannerist-Sicilian Baroque style in his native Palermo. He was born in Palermo, and started as a painter at the school of Filippo Paladini, then he w ...

(1561–1636), architect, painter *

Mario Minniti Mario Minniti (8 December 1577 – 22 November 1640) was an Italian artist active in Sicily after 1606. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, he arrived in Rome in 1593, where he became the friend, collaborator, and model of the key Baroque painter Mic ...

(1577–1640), painter * Alonzo Rodriguez (1578–1648), painter * Antonio Barbalonga (1600–1649), painter *

Pietro Novelli Pietro Novelli (March 2, 1603 – August 27, 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Palermo. Also known as ''il Monrealese'' or ''Pietro "Malta" Novelli'' to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I ...

(1603–1647), painter * Giovanni Quagliata (1603–1673), painter * Onofrio Gabrielli (1619–1706), painter * Agostino Scilla (1629–1700), painter * Angelo Italia (1628–1700), Jesuit architect *

Filippo Tancredi Filippo Tancredi (1655–1722) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born in Messina to a minor painter and his mother, who was sister of the painter Filippo Giannetto.Gaetano Giulio Zumbo Gaetano Giulio Zumbo (1656–1701) was an Italian sculptor in wax or wax modeller of the Baroque era. His primary talents were not those generally considered as artistic but devoted to the creation of scientific models that were highly regarded ...

(1656–1701), sculptor *

Filippo Juvarra Filippo is an Italian language, Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English language, English name Philip (name), Philip, from the Greek language, Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name ...

(1678–1736), architect *

Rosario Gagliardi Rosario Gagliardi (1698–1762) was an Italian architect born in Syracuse. He was one of the leading architects working in the Sicilian Baroque. In spite of never leaving Sicily his work showed great understanding of the style, but was a progress ...

(1698–1762), architect *

Giovanni Battista Vaccarini Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (3 February 1702 – 11 March 1768) was a Sicilian architect, notable for his work in the Sicilian Baroque style in his homeland during the period of massive rebuilding following the earthquake of 1693. Many of his pri ...

(1702–1768), architect *

(1603–1647), painter *

Giacomo Serpotta Giacomo Serpotta (10 March 1656 – 27 February 1732) was an Italian sculptor, active in a Rococo style and mainly working in stucco. Biography Serpotta was born and died in Palermo; and may have never left Sicily. His skill and facility with st ...

(1656–1732), sculptor * Olivio Sòzzi (1696–1765), painter *

Giovanni Antonio Medrano Giovanni Antonio Medrano (1703–1760) was a Sicilian born in Sciacca (rather than in Palermo) in 1703, and who had entered the service of Spain in 1719 as a Military Architect, although it is probable that he had already joined the army of t ...

(1703–1760), architect *

Vincenzo Sinatra Vincenzo Sinatra (1720, Noto – 1765) was a Sicilian architect. He was a pupil of Rosario Gagliardi. Sinatra worked in both the Baroque style and later in Neo-Classical style. Following the 1693 earthquake, the city of Noto was completel ...

(1720–1765), architect *

Francesco Sabatini Francesco Sabatini (1721 – 19 February 1797), also known as Francisco Sabatini, was an Italian architect of the 18th century who worked in Spain. Biography Born in Palermo, he studied architecture in Rome. His first contacts with the Spa ...

(1722–1797), architect * Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia (1729–1814), architect * Mariano Rossi (1731–1807), painter * Giuseppe Velazquez (1750–1827), painter * Giuseppe Cammarano (1766–1850), painter * Michele Rapisardi (1822–1886), painter * Giovan Battista Filippo Basile (1825–1891), architect * Francesco Lojacono (1838–1915), painter *

Vitaliano Poselli Vitaliano Poselli (1838–1918) was an Italian architect from Sicily, mostly known for his work in the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Life He was born in Castiglione di Sicilia in 1838, and studied in Rome. In 1867, the Catholic Church ...

(1838–1918), architect *

Vincenzo Ragusa Vincenzo Ragusa (8 July 1841 – 13 March 1927) was an Italian sculptor who lived in Meiji period Japan from 1876–1882. He introduced European techniques in bronze casting, and new methods of modeling in wood, clay, plaster and wire ar ...

(1841–1927), sculptor *

Ettore Ximenes Ettore Ximenes (11 April 1855, Palermo 20 December 1926, Rome) was an Italian sculptor. Biography Son of Antonio Ximenes and Giulia Tolentino, a Sicilian noble woman, Ettore Ximenes initially embarked on literary studies but then took up scul ...

(1855–1926), sculptor *

Ernesto Basile Ernesto Basile (31 January 1857 – 26 August 1932, in Palermo) was an Italian architect and an exponent of modernisme and Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. His style was known for its eclectic fusion of ancient, medieval and ...

(1857–1932), architect *

Mario Rutelli Mario Rutelli (Palermo, Sicily, 4 April 1859 – 1941) was an Italian sculptor. Biography From a native British family which long ago moved from France to Italy (Rudelle at first), Mario's father Giovanni Rutelli was a prominent architect in ...

(1859–1941), sculptor *

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

(1888–1978), painter * Francisco Salamone (1897–1959), architect *

Giuseppe Migneco Giuseppe Migneco (1908–1997) was an Italian painter of the Novecento Italiano. He often painted scenes of laborers at work in a naïve and expressionist style. Biography Migneco was born in Messina. His father was a train station master and his ...

(1908–1997), painter *

Renato Guttuso Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...

(1912–1987), painter * Emilio Greco (1913–1995), sculptor, * Topazia Alliata (1913–2015), painter, art curator *

Salvatore Fiume Salvatore Fiume (23 October 1915 – 3 June 1997) was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, writer and stage designer. His works are kept in some of the most important museums in the world, among which the Vatican Museums, the Hermitage of ...

(1915–1997), painter, sculptor, architect *

Pietro Consagra Pietro Consagra (6 October 1920 – 16 July 2005) was an Italian sculptor. In 1947 he was among the founding members of the Forma 1 group of artists, who advocated both Marxism and structured abstraction. Life Consagra was born on 6 Oc ...

(1920–2005), sculptor *

Bruno Caruso Bruno Caruso (; 8 August 1927 – 4 November 2018) was an influential Italian artist, graphic designer and writer who spent much of his adult life working in Rome. Caruso's work focused on the moral, political and ethical flaws of the 20th ...

(1927–2018), painter, illustrator, graphic designer *

Arturo Di Modica Arturo Di Modica (January 26, 1941February 19, 2021) was an Italian-American sculptor, widely known for his '' Charging Bull'' sculpture that he left outside the New York Stock Exchange between pre-dawn police patrols on December 15, 1989. Eng ...

(born 1941), sculptor * Emanuele Viscuso (born 1952), sculptor *

Manfredi Beninati Manfredi Beninati is an Italian artist born in Palermo (Sicily) in 1970. A contemporary figurative painter, his oeuvre also covers installations, drawings, sculpture, collage and film. Biography After dropping out of both law and film school a ...

(born 1970), visual artist

Musicians

Sigismondo d'India Sigismondo d'India (c. 1582 – before 19 April 1629) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the most accomplished contemporaries of Monteverdi, and wrote music in many of the same forms as the more ...

(1582–1629), composer * Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), composer * Emanuele d'Astorga (1680–1757), composer * Pietro Antonio Coppola (1793–1876), composer, conductor * Giovanni Pacini (1796–1867), composer * Mario Aspa (1797–1868), composer *

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Gius ...

(1801–1835), opera composer *

Errico Petrella Errico Petrella (10 December 18137 April 1877) was an Italian opera composer. Life and career Petrella was born at Palermo, capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. A conservative of the Neapolitan school, he was the most successful Italian compose ...

(1813–1877), opera composer * Corrado Galzio (1919–2020), musician and piano player *

Antonino Gandolfo Brancaleone Antonino Gandolfo Brancaleone (24 April 1820, in Catania – 6 June 1888, in Catania) was an Italian composer. His masterpiece was '' Il Sultano'' (1851). Biography He began his studies in Palermo with Pietro Raimondi. Afterward Antonino moved ...

(1820–1888), composer *

Achille Campisiano Achille Domenico Campisiano (12 November 1837 – 17 April 1908) was an Italian-born French pianist and composer. Also known under the pseudonym Achille de Campisiano, he composed opéras comiques, operettas and opéras bouffes. Biography Born ...

(1837–1908), pianist, composer * Roberto Stagno (1840–1897), tenor * Mario Sammarco (1868–1930), baritone * Giuseppe Anselmi (1876–1929), tenor *

Vincent Rose Vincent Rose ''(né'' Vincenzo Cacioppo; 13 June 1880 Palermo, Italy – 20 May 1944 Rockville Centre, New York) was an Italian-born American violinist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. Career Rose holds one of the longest histories as a ban ...

(1880–1944), violinist, pianist, composer *

Ignacio Corsini Ignacio Corsini (February 13, 1891 – July 26, 1967) was an Italian-born Argentine folklore and tango musician. Life and work Andrea Corsini, such his real name, was born in Troina, a village in the Enna Province of Sicily, in 1891. He was f ...

(1891–1967), folklore and tango musician * Santa Biondo (1892–1989), soprano * Salvatore Allegra (1898–1993), composer *

Franco Ferrara Franco Ferrara (Palermo, 4 July 1911Florence, 7 September 1985) was an Italian conductor and teacher. Among his many students are various prominent conductors, including Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Andrew Davis and Riccardo Muti. Life and ...

(1911–1985), conductor *

Giuseppe Di Stefano Giuseppe Di Stefano (24 July 19213 March 2008) was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Called Pippo by both fans and friends, he was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voic ...

(1921–2008), operatic tenor *

Rosa Balistreri Rosa Balistreri (21 March 1927 – 20 September 1990) was an Italian singer and musician. Her hoarse voice charged with melancholy and strong personality made her a Sicilian icon of the twentieth century, much like the writer Leonardo Sciasci ...

(1927–1990), singer *

Roberto Pregadio Roberto Pregadio (6 December 1928 – 15 November 2010) was an Italian composer, conductor and TV-personality. Born in Catania and graduated in piano at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples, in 1960 Pregadio became a pianist in the RA ...

(1928–2010), composer, conductor, TV personality *

Pippo Caruso Giuseppe Caruso (22 December 1935 – 28 May 2018), best known as Pippo Caruso, was an Italian composer, conductor and music arranger. Biography Born in Belpasso, Catania, Caruso linked his professional success to the television presenter Pi ...

(1935–2018), composer, conductor * Tony Cucchiara (1937–2018), singer, composer *

Umberto Balsamo Rosario Umberto Balsamo, best known as Umberto Balsamo (born 10 March 1942) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. Background Born in Catania, Balsamo was the youngest of five brothers. In 1964 he moved to Milan, where he started worki ...

(born 1942), singer-songwriter *

Salvatore Adamo Salvatore Adamo (born November 1, 1943) is a Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual ...

(born 1943), singer * Nico dei Gabbiani (1944–2012), singer *Aldo Stellita (1944–1998), composer, musician, member of

Matia Bazar Matia Bazar () is an Italian pop band formed in Genoa in 1975. The original members of the group were Piero Cassano (keyboards), Aldo Stellita (bass), Carlo Marrale (guitar, vocals), Giancarlo Golzi (drums) and Antonella Ruggiero (vocals). T ...

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esotericism, esoteric, philosophy, philosophica ...

(1945–2021), musician, filmmaker *

Gianni Bella Giovanni Bella, best known as Gianni Bella (born 14 March 1946), is an Italian composer and singer-songwriter. Background Born in Catania, Bella started his career as composer for his sister, singer Marcella Bella authoring several hits with l ...

(born 1945), singer-songwriter, composer *

Cristiano Malgioglio Giuseppe Cristiano Malgioglio (; born 23 April 1945) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, showman and television personality. Biography Born in Ramacca, Catania, Malgioglio obtained his first contract with a record label, Durium, thanks to ...

(born 1945), singer-songwriter, composer *

Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...

(born 1947), composer * Christian (born 1949), singer *

Frédéric François Frédéric François (born Francesco Barracato; 3 June 1950 in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy), is a French-speaking singer-composer living in Belgium. Biography Origins and childhood Born on 3 June 1950 in Lercara Friddi in Sicily, in a ve ...

(born 1950), singer * Giuni Russo (1951–2004), singer-songwriter *

Marcella Bella Giuseppa Marcella Bella (born 18 June 1952 in Catania) is an Italian pop singer. Her brothers Antonio and Salvatore Bella are famous musicians, and her brother Gianni Bella Giovanni Bella, best known as Gianni Bella (born 14 March 1946), is a ...

(born 1952), singer * Vincenzo Spampinato (born 1953), singer-songwriter * Luca Madonia (born 1957), singer-songwriter *

Giovanni Sollima Giovanni Sollima (born 24 October 1962 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy) is an Italian composer and cellist. He was born into a family of musicians and studied cello with Giovanni Perriera and composition with his father, Eliodoro Sollima, at the Con ...

(born 1962), composer, cellist * Lucia Aliberti (born 1963), operatic soprano * Rosario Di Bella (born 1963), singer-songwriter *

Mario Venuti Mario Venuti (born 28 October 1963) is an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Life and career Born in Syracuse, Sicily, he started his career as a member of the new wave band Denovo.Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. ...

(born 1963), singer-songwriter, producer * Marcello Giordani (1963–2019), tenor * Gerardina Trovato (born 1967), singer * Salvatore Di Vittorio (born 1967), composer *

Francesca Alotta Francesca Alotta (born 1 January 1969) is an Italian Singing, pop singer, best known for the song "No Me Ames, Non amarmi". Background Born in Palermo, Alotta started her career in 1988, as a member of the female group Compilations. She starte ...

(born 1968), singer * Roy Paci (born 1969), trumpeter, singer-songwriter * Jeffrey Jey (born 1970), singer-songwriter, member of

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 is an Italian music group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina and Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles " Blue (Da B ...

Paolo Buonvino Paolo Buonvino (born 29 March 1968) is an Italian composer, musician, conductor, and music arranger. Life and career Buonvino was born on 29 March 1968 in Scordia, a comune in Sicily, Italy. He earned his Piano Bachelor-Degree from the Conse ...

(born 1970), composer, conductor, music arranger * Mario Biondi (born 1971), singer *

Filippa Giordano Filippa Giordano (born 14 February 1974) is an Italian-born Mexican crossover singer. Biography Giordano was born in Palermo. At the age of nine, she started ballet at the National Academy of Rome (where she moved with her family). Giordano ...

(born 1974), singer *

Carmen Consoli Carmen Consoli (; born 4 September 1974 in Catania) is an Italian singer-songwriter. She has released 11 studio albums, one greatest hits, one soundtrack album, two live albums, four video album and 33 singles, selling 2 million copies in It ...

(born 1974), singer-songwriter * Misstress Barbara (born 1975), DJ, singer-songwriter * Antonino Fogliani (born 1976), conductor * Desirée Rancatore (born 1977), soprano * Vincenzo Luvineri (born 1977) rapper AKA Vinnie Paz * Silvia Salemi (born 1978), singer-songwriter *

Marracash Fabio Bartolo Rizzo, better known by his stage name Marracash (), is an Italian rapper. Starting his career in the rap group Dogo Gang, he debuted as a solo artist rising in fame in the 2010s releasing six studio albums that reached the top ten ...

(born 1979), rapper *

Giusy Ferreri Giusy Ferreri (; born Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri on 17 April 1979) is an Italian singer and songwriter. In 2008, she took part at the first Italian edition of the talent show X Factor, coming in second place. She topped the Italian Singles Chart ...

(born 1979), singer *

Romina Arena Romina Arena is an Italian American, Italian-American popera, operatic pop, pop Crossover (music), classical crossover, rock opera and New-age music, new-age singer-songwriter. Early life Romina Arena was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, to a ...

(born 1980), singer * Oriana Civile (born 1980), singer and ethnomusicologist * Cristina Scuccia (born 1988), singer *

Francesco Cafiso Francesco Cafiso (born 24 May 1989) is an Italian jazz alto saxophonist. Cafiso was born in Sicily on 24 May 1989. He was successful musically from a young age: he played duets with pianist Franco D'Andrea at the 2002 Umbria Jazz Festival, toure ...

(born 1989), jazz saxophonist * Giovanni Caccamo (born 1990), singer-songwriter *

Deborah Iurato Deborah Iurato is an Italian pop singer and TV personality, born on 21 November 1991 in Ragusa, Sicily. She first came to prominence as the winner of the thirteen season of the talent show ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' in May 2014. Biography an ...

(born 1991), singer *Piero Barone (born 1993), singer, member of Il Volo * Lorenzo Fragola (born 1995), singer *

La Bionda La Bionda were an Italian disco duo consisting of siblings Carmelo (1949–2022) and Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952). They are considered among the pioneers of the Italo disco music genre. The siblings were born in Ramacca, Sicily and moved ...

, composers, record producers

Actors, directors and producers

Angelo Musco Angelo Musco (18 December 1872 – 6 October 1937) was an Italian actor in theater and film. He was known for his comic abilities as well as for his carefully drawn psychological portraits. Life and career Born in Catania, Catania, Sicily to ...

(1872–1937), actor *

Ernesto Almirante Ernesto Almirante (24 September 1877 – 13 December 1964) was an Italian film and stage actor. Life and career Born in Mistretta into a family of actors, Almirante worked several years on stage along his father Nunzio. He was also active as a ...

(1877–1964), actor *

Febo Mari Febo Mari (1884–1939) was an Italian actor and film director. He found success as a leading man during Italy's silent film era. Early life Febo Mari was born Alfredo Giovanni Leopoldo Rodriguez in Messina, Sicily. His family were wealthy a ...

(1884–1939), actor, director *

Mimi Aguglia Mimi Aguglia (21 December 1884 – 31 July 1970) was an Italian actress, born Girolama Aguglia in Palermo, Sicily, while her mother, actress Giuseppina Aguglia, was playing Desdemona in ''Othello''. Biography She was born in the wings of t ...

(1884–1970), actress *

Henry Armetta Henry Armetta (born Enrico Armetta; July 4, 1888 – October 21, 1945) was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released posthumously in 1946, the year after his d ...

(1888–1945), actor * Sol Polito (1892–1960), cinematographer * Piero Carnabuci (1893–1958), actor * Frank Capra (1897–1991), actor, director * Rosina Anselmi (1880–1965), actress * Michele Abruzzo (1904–1996), actor *

Rocco D'Assunta Rocco D'Assunta (7 February 1904 – 27 January 1970) was an Italian actor, comedian and playwright. Life and career Born in Palermo, D'Assunta started acting at very young age with several Sicilian stage companies, including the ones led by ...

(1904–1970), actor *

Salvo Randone Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little w ...

(1906–1991), actor *

Pino Mercanti Giuseppe Mercanti, best known as Pino Mercanti (16 February 1911 – 3 September 1986), was an Italian director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Palermo, Sicily, Mercanti was a pioneer of the Sicilian cinema as the leading filmmaker ...

(1911–1986), director, screenwriter *

Gino Buzzanca Gino Buzzanca (8 March 1912 – 5 May 1985) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Messina, Buzzanca began his career on stage, specializing as an actor of the Sicilian language theater, and starring in works by Luigi Pirande ...

(1912–1985), actor *

Ignazio Balsamo Ignazio Balsamo (25 October 1912 – 7 August 1994) was an Italian film and stage actor. Life and career Born in Catania, Balsamo began his career on stage, being part of several Sicilian language theatrical companies. Discovered by Pietr ...

(1912–1994), actor *

Saro Urzì Rosario "Saro" Urzì (24 February 1913 – 1 November 1979) was an Italian actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In the Name of the Law'' (1949), '' The Railroad Man'' (1956), '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964), which earned him ...

(1913–1979), actor *

Mario Landi Mario Landi (12 October 1920 – 18 March 1992) was an Italian director known for his giallo movies such as ''Giallo a Venezia'' and his television series ''Le inchieste del commissario Maigret''. Life and career Born in Messina, Sicily, Landi ...

(1920–1992), director *

Turi Ferro Salvatore "Turi" Ferro (10 January 1921 – 10 May 2001) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He is considered the most important actor in the Sicilian theatre post-World War II era. Life and career Born in Catania, Ferro laun ...

(1921–2001), actor *

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

(1922–1986), actor * Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), actor, director *

Turi Vasile Turi Vasile (22 March 1922 - 1 September 2009) was an Italian producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film critic and author. Life and career Born in Messina, Sicily, Vasile started working as a playwright and a theatre director in the e ...

(1922–2009), producer, director *

Vittorio De Seta Vittorio De Seta (15 October 1923 – 28 November 2011) was an Italian cinema director and screenwriter, considered Italian cinema's great imaginative realists of the 1960s.Nino Terzo Nino Terzo (22 May 1923 – 8 May 2005) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Palermo as Antonino Terzo, he worked intensively in the avanspettacolo and revue theater, entering the stage companies of Totò, Peppino De Filippo, Franco ...

(1923–2005), actor *

Carlo Sposito Carlo Sposito (1 May 1924 – 9 September 1984) was an Italian character actor, sometimes credited as Carletto Sposito. Born in Palermo, he was among the most active actors in the post-war Italian genre cinema. He was also pretty active on stag ...

(1924–1984), actor *

Roberto Mauri Roberto Mauri (born 1924) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Born Giuseppe Tagliavia in Castelvetrano, Trapani, Mauri began his career as a film actor in low-budget films, occasionally even playing main roles. He d ...

(1924–2007), actor, director * Carla Calò (1926–2019), actress * Franco Franchi (1928–1992), actor * Massimo Mollica (1929–2013), actor, theatre director *

Luigi Vannucchi Luigi Vannucchi (25 November 1930 – 30 August 1978) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Caltanissetta, Vannucchi graduated at Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1952 and shortly after en ...

(1930–1978), actor * Franco Indovina (1932–1972), director, screenwriter *

Michele Lupo Michele Lupo (4 December 1932 – 27 June 1989) was an Italian film director. He directed 23 films between 1962 and 1982. He was born in Corleone, Italy, and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Colossus of the Arena'' (1962) * ...

(1932–1989), director *

Pino Caruso Giuseppe Caruso (12 October 1934 – 7 March 2019), best known as Pino Caruso, was an Italian actor, author and television personality. Life and career Caruso was born in Palermo, Sicily and debuted as dramatic stage actor in his home town in ...

(1934–2019), actor, author, TV personality *

Tuccio Musumeci Tuccio Musumeci (born 20 April 1934) is an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born in Catania, Musumeci started his career in the 1960s, performing in local cabarets and avanspettacolo companies.Santino Mirabella. ''In scena - conver ...

(born 1934), actor *

Aldo Puglisi Aldo Puglisi (born 12 April 1935) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Catania, the son of two Sicilian language theatrical actors, Puglisi made his stage debut at very young age with the company of his parents. He made his film debut ...

(born 1935), actor * Robert Hundar (1935–2008), actor *

Daniela Rocca Daniela Rocca (12 September 1937 – 28 May 1995) was an Italian actress, model and writer. Biography Rocca was born and raised in Acireale, a small town near Catania. She became Miss Catania in 1953, and was discovered by talent scouts after ...

(1937–1995), actress, model * Biagio Pelligra (born 1937), actor * Lando Buzzanca (born 1938), actor *

Michele Gammino Michele Gammino (born 16 June 1941) is an Italian actor, voice actor and television presenter. Career Born in Rome to parents who originated from Palermo, Gammino began his career during the early 1970s. For his work on Italian television, Gammino ...

(born 1941), actor *

Elio Zamuto Elio Zamuto (born 1 May 1941 in Syracuse) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Syracuse as Elio Mazzamuto, Zamuto started his career in the mid-1960s, and had a prolific career between television and cinema, especially ...

(born 1941), actor * Luigi Maria Burruano (1945–2017), actor *

Leo Gullotta Salvatore Leopoldo "Leo" Gullotta (born 9 January 1946) is an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian and writer. Biography Born in Catania and the last of six children, Gullotta started his career as an extra in Teatro Massimo Bellini. In his long ...

(born 1946), actor * Beppe Cino (born 1947), director *

Carla Cassola Carla Cassola (15 December 1947 – 24 July 2022)Nino Frassica Antonino "Nino" Frassica (born 11 December 1950) is an Italian actor, Duke of Gela and television personality. Biography and career Born in Messina, Frassica is mostly known for his deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as ...

(born 1950), actor *

Jerry Calà Calogero Alessandro Augusto Calà, known by his stage name Jerry Calà (born 28 June 1951), is an Italian actor, filmmaker, comedian and singer who has written, directed, and acted in multiple film and television projects. He is considered one of ...

(born 1951), actor, comedian *

Andrea Tidona Andrea Tidona (born 30 November 1951) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Modica, Sicily, Tidona formed at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici and later worked several years at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, under Giorgio ...

(born 1951), actor *

Antonio Catania Antonio Catania (born 22 February 1952) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Acireale, Province of Catania, Antonio Catania studied acting at the Drama School of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. After the graduation he started an intense ...

(born 1952), actor *

Lucia Sardo Lucia Sardo (born 13 December 1952) is an Italian actress. Life and career Born Aurora Sardo in Francofonte, Syracuse, Sardo formed at the Teatro di Ventura under Ferruccio Merisi. She made her film debut in the 1992 Aurelio Grimaldi's dra ...

(born 1952), actress *

Frank Sivero Frank Sivero (born Francesco Lo Giudice; January 6, 1952) is an Italian-American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the roles of Genco Abbandando in Francis Ford Coppola's '' The Godfather Part II,'' and Frankie Carbone (based on Angelo ...

(born 1952), actor * Riccardo Schicchi (1953–2012), director, producer *

Tony Sperandeo Tony Sperandeo (born 8 May 1953) is an Italian actor of cinema and television. Sperandeo is notable for frequently playing the roles of tough characters from his native region, Sicily. As of 2011, he was working on ''La Nuova Squadra'', a police ...

(born 1953), actor * Giuseppe Tornatore (born 1956), director *

Aurelio Grimaldi Aurelio Grimaldi (born 22 November 1957) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. His film '' The Whores'' was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmography * '' Ragazzi fuori'' (1990) * '' The Rebel'' (1993) * '' The ...

(born 1957), director *

Donatella Maiorca Donatella Maiorca (born September 13, 1957, in Messina) is an Italian film director. Career Donatella Maiorca began working as an actress and assistant director while she was a student of psychology at the Sapienza University of Rome. In 1981 sh ...

(born 1957), director *

Franco Maresco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

(born 1958), director *

Roberto Andò Roberto Andò (born 11 January 1959) is an Italian director, screenwriter, playwright and author. Life and career Born in Palermo, Andò debuted as assistant director, working with Francis Ford Coppola, Federico Fellini, Michael Cimino and F ...

(born 1959), director *

Anna Kanakis Anna Kanakis ( el, Άννα Κανάκη) (born in 1962 in Messina, Italy) is an Italian actress and model. Early life Kanakis was born in Messina on 1 February 1962 to a Greek father from Crete and a mother from Messina. She was Miss Italy i ...

(born 1962), model, actress *

Daniele Ciprì Daniele Ciprì (born 17 August 1962) is an Italian film director and cinematographer. He is best known for his collaborations with Franco Maresco and for his film ''It Was the Son ''It Was the Son'' ( it, È stato il figlio) is a 2012 Italian ...

(born 1962), director *

Ninni Bruschetta Ninni Bruschetta (born Antonino Bruschetta on 6 January 1962) is an Italian actor, film and stage director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Messina, in 1983 Bruschetta co-founded with Maurizio Puglisi "Nutrimenti terrestri", a stag ...

(born 1962), actor, director * Enrico Lo Verso (born 1964), actor * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), actor *

Luigi Lo Cascio Luigi Lo Cascio (born 20 October 1967) is an Italian actor. He won the David di Donatello as best actor for his starring role in ''I cento passi''. In 2012, he debuted as film director and writer with '' La città ideale''. Filmography *2000: ' ...

(born 1967), actor * Francesco Benigno (born 1967), actor * Salvatore Termini (born 1968), actor *

Giuseppe Fiorello Giuseppe Fiorello, also known as Beppe Fiorello or Fiorellino (born 12 March 1969), is an Italian actor. Career Fiorello was born in Catania, Sicily, the youngest of four children. His elder brother is the noted television and radio personali ...

(born 1969), actor *

Maria Grazia Cucinotta Maria Grazia Cucinotta (; born 27 July 1968) is an Italian actress who has featured in films and television series since 1990. She has also worked as a film producer, screenwriter and model. Internationally she is best known for her roles in ' ...

(born 1969), actress *

Donatella Finocchiaro Donatella Finocchiaro (born 16 November 1970) is an Italian actress. She has appeared in more than 20 films since 2002. She starred in ''The Wedding Director'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ...

(born 1970), actress *

Dario Bandiera Dario Bandiera (born 9 February 1970) is an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Bandiera began his career working in tourist villages as an entertainer. In 1992 he moved to Rome to study acting and in early ...

(born 1970), actor, comedian * Ficarra e Picone (born 1971), actors, comedians *

Lorenzo Crespi Lorenzo Crespi (born Vincenzo Leopizzi on 13 August 1971) is an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Messina, Crespi made his film debut in 1995, in Pappi Corsicato's '' Black Holes''. In 1998 he won the Globo d'oro for ...

(born 1971), actor *

Luca Guadagnino Luca Guadagnino (; born 10 August 1971) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are often characterized by their emotional complexities, sensuality and sumptuous visuals. He is also known for his frequent collaboration ...

(born 1971), director * Pif (born 1972), actor, director * Paolo Briguglia (born 1974), actor *

Loredana Cannata Loredana Cannata (born 14 July 1975) is an Italian movie, television and theater actress. Biography Born in Ragusa, Italy, Cannata studied acting while growing up in her native Sicily. She started early on to play leading roles in several ...

(born 1975), actress *

Claudio Gioè Claudio Gioè (born 27 January 1975 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor of the cinema, theatre and television. Career Gioè made his acting debut in the 1997 film "Qui" and has since performed in many other films such as "I cento passi" ("O ...

(born 1975), actor *

Barbara Tabita Barbara Tabita (born 13 February 1975) is an Italian actress, comedian and playwright. Life and career Born in Augusta, Sicily, Tabita studied acting at the drama school of the Teatro Stabile di Catania The Teatro Stabile di Catania (Permanent ...

(born 1975), actress *

Tiziana Lodato Tiziana Lodato (born 10 November 1976) is an Italian film, stage and television actress. Life and career Born in Catania, Lodato attended the Istituto d'Arte in her hometown, and at young age she debuted on stage at the Teatro Stabile di Cat ...

(born 1976), actress *

Daniele Gangemi Daniele Gangemi (born 18 June 1980) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Biography Daniele Gangemi was born on 18 June 1980. At the age of fifteen he gets fascinated by the world of photography and starts experimenting ...

(born 1980), director * Nicole Grimaudo (born 1980), actress *

Isabella Ragonese Isabella Ragonese (born 19 May 1981) is an Italian actress. She studied acting at the Teatès School in Palermo, under director Michele Perriera. During her studies, she wrote, directed and starred in several adaptations of his plays. In 1998 s ...

(born 1981), actress *

Francesco Scianna Francesco Scianna (born 25 March 1982 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian actor. Biography Early education and career Francesco Scianna began his acting career in theater, debuting in 1997 with the recital of poems by Salvatore Quasimodo, "CEI". ...

(born 1982), actor *

Margareth Madè Margareth Tamara Maccarrone (born 22 June 1982), known professionally as Margareth Madè, is an Italian actress and former model. Madè began her modeling career at the age of 15 and, in 2000, won WhyNot Agency's New Model Today contest in Mila ...

(born 1982), actress *

Valeria Bilello Valeria Bilello (born 2 May 1982) is an Italian actress and model. Biography Valeria Bilello was born in Sciacca, in Sicily, Italy, on 2 May 1982, and grew up in Milan. During her high-school studies in foreign languages, she made her debut i ...

(born 1982), actress, model * Tea Falco (born 1986), actress * Chazz Palminteri (born 1952), actor

Sports figures

* Paolo Boi (1528–1598), chess player * Pietro Speciale (1876–1945), fencer, gold medal in the team foil at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics *

Giovanni Canova Giovanni Canova (27 July 1880 – 28 October 1960) was an Italian fencer. He won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics and a bronze at the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), offici ...

(1880–1960), fencer (gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics) * Francesco Calì (1882–1949), footballer *

Johnny Dundee Johnny Dundee (November 19, 1893 – April 22, 1965) was an American featherweight and the first world junior lightweight champion boxer who fought from 1910 until 1932. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1957 and the Int ...

(1893–1965), boxer * Francesco Gargano (1899–1975), fencer and the first Sicilian to win a gold medal at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics * Giovanni Corrieri (1920–2017), road bicycle racer *

Concetto Lo Bello Concetto Lo Bello (13 May 1924 – 9 September 1991) was an Italian association football international referee. He holds the record for refereeing the most games in Serie A (328). His career spanned the years 1944 to 1974, refereeing his first ...

(1924–1991), football referee *

Enzo Maiorca Enzo Maiorca (21 June 1931 – 13 November 2016) was an Italian free diver who held several world freediving records. Born Vincenzo Maiorca on 21 June 1931 in Syracuse, Sicily, he died on 13 November 2016 in the same city. Biography Maiorca was ...

(1931–2016), free diver *

Guido Messina Guido Messina (4 January 1931 – 10 January 2020) was an Italian road and track cyclist. He was born in Monreale, Italy, on 4 January 1931. On track he won five world titles in the individual 4000 m pursuit between 1948 and 1956, and a gold ...

(1931–2020), road bicycle racer (gold medal with the Italian team at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

) *

Nino Vaccarella Nino Vaccarella (4 March 1933 – 23 September 2021) was an Italian sports car racing and Formula One driver. His principal achievements include having won the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Targa Florio in 1965, 1971 and 1975, the latter y ...

(born 1933), racecar driver * Franco Scoglio (1941–2005), football manager * Giuseppe Furino (born 1946), footballer *

Tullio Lanese Tullio Lanese (born 10 January 1947, in Messina) is a former Italian football referee and a former President of the Italian Referees Association, the AIA. Referee From 1987 to 1992 he held the qualification of international referee, officia ...

(born 1947), football referee *

Pietro Anastasi Pietro Anastasi (; 7 April 1948 – 17 January 2020), nicknamed ''Petruzzu 'u turcu'' () by fans, was an Italian footballer who played mainly in the role of a forward. He started his professional club career in Italy with Varese in 1966, helpi ...

(1948–2020), footballer * Giovanni Scalzo (born 1959), fencer (gold medal in the team

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

event at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

) *

Salvatore Antibo Salvatore Antibo (born 7 February 1962) is a former long-distance runner from Italy. He won nine medals at the International athletics competitions. but curiously, he never won national championship (not outdoor, not indoor). Biography Antibo ...

(born 1962), runner *

Pasquale Marino Pasquale Marino (born 13 July 1962) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. He most recently served as the manager of Crotone. Career Playing career In his playing career, started for his home team, Marsala, Marino never played in ...

(born 1962), footballer, football manager * Alessandro Campagna (water polo) (born 1963), water polo player and coach *

Salvatore Schillaci Salvatore Schillaci (; born 1 December 1964), commonly referred to by his nickname Totò, is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a striker. During his club career, he played for Messina (1982–1989), Juventus (1989–1992 ...

(born 1964), footballer *

Maurizio Randazzo Maurizio Randazzo (born 1 March 1964) is an Italian fencer. He won a gold medal in the team épée events at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney ...

(born 1964), fencer (gold medal in the team

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

events at the 1996 and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

) *

Annarita Sidoti Annarita Sidoti (25 July 1969 – 21 May 2015) was an Italian race walker. Biography Annarita Sidoti was born in Gioiosa Marea. She won eleven medals at senior level in international competition. She participated at three editions of the Summ ...

(1969–2015), race walker * Andrea Lo Cicero (born 1976), rugby union player * Valerio Vermiglio (born 1976), volleyball player *

Paolo Tiralongo Paolo Tiralongo (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2017 for the , , and teams. Career In 2009, while riding for , Tiralongo registered his best final result on a ...

(born 1977), road bicycle racer * Giuseppe Gibilisco (born 1979), pole vaulter *

Silvia Bosurgi Silvia Bosurgi (born 17 April 1979 in Messina) is a water polo forward from Italy, who won the gold medal with the Women's National Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She participated at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, ...

(born 1979), water polo player (gold medal with the Women's National Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics) * Giuseppe Mascara (born 1979), footballer * Giovanni Visconti (born 1983), road bicycle racer *

Vincenzo Nibali ), The Nibbler , birth_date = , birth_place = Messina, Sicily, Italy , height = , weight = , currentteam = , discipline = Road , role = Rider , ridertype = Climber , proyears1 = 2005 , proteam1 = , proyears2 = 2006–2012 , protea ...

(born 1984), road bicycle racer * Tony Cairoli (born 1985), eight-time Grand Prix motocross world champion * Luca Marin (born 1986), medley swimmer *

Damiano Caruso Damiano Caruso (born 12 October 1987) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Caruso was also the 2008 under-23 Italian national champion for the road race. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, i ...

(born 1987), road bicycle racer *

Giorgio Avola Giorgio Avola (born 8 May 1989) is an Italian right-handed foil fencer. Avola is a three-time team European champion, 2011 individual European champion, and four-time team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Avola is a 2012 team Olympic c ...

(born 1989), fencer (gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's team foil event) *

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Sion. Balotelli started his professional football career in 2005 at Lumezzane, before ...

(born 1990), footballer *

Daniele Garozzo Daniele Garozzo (; born 4 August 1992) is an Italian right-handed foil fencer. Garozzo is a 2022 team European champion, two-time individual European champion, and four-time team world champion. A two-time Olympian, Garozzo is a 2021 individ ...

(born 1992), foil fencer (gold medal in the Men's Individual Foil at the 2016 Summer Olympics) *

Marco Cecchinato Marco Cecchinato (; born 30 September 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 16 reached on 25 February 2019. On 29 April 2018, he won his first ATP World Tour title at the 2018 Hungar ...

(born 1992), tennis player * Miriam Sylla (born 1995), volleyball player

Criminals

Others

Phrygillus Phrygillus, was an art in ancient Greece, ancient Greek artist of Magna Graecia, who appears to have been one of the most ancient, as well as one of the most celebrated medallists and engravers of precious stones. There is a very beautiful Intagl ...

(5th century BC), medallist and engraver of precious stones *

Eunus Eunus (died 132 BC) was a Roman slave from Apamea in Syria who became the leader of the slave uprising in the First Servile War (135 BC–132 BC) in the Roman province of Sicily. Eunus rose to prominence in the movement through his reputation a ...

(died 132 BC), leader of the slave uprising in the

First Servile War The First Servile War of 135–132 BC was a slave rebellion against the Roman Republic, which took place in Sicily. The revolt started in 135 when Eunus, a slave from Syria who claimed to be a prophet, captured the city of Enna in the middle o ...

* Dina and Clarenza (13th century), heroines during the

Sicilian Vespers The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of ...

Manfredi Chiaramonte Manfredi III Chiaramonte (died November 1391) was a Sicilian nobleman. Of French origins, he was given the County of Modica, then one of the most powerful fiefs in the Kingdom of Sicily, in 1377. He was also made lord of Trapani, Agrigento, Bivo ...

(died 1391), nobleman * Aaron Abualrabi (1400–1450), Jewish scholar, cabalist, and astrologer * Laura Lanza, Baroness of Carini (1529–1563), noblewoman *

Juan Dominguez Palermo Juan Dominguez de Palermo (c. 1560 – 1635) was a Sicilian military officer and politician, who served in Buenos Aires during the Viceroyalty of Peru. His name is attached to one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Palermo. He w ...

(c.1560–1635), conquistador *

Procopio Cutò Procopio Cutò, also known as Francesco Procopio Cutò, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, or François Procope () was a chef from Sicily.Portinari Billing himself as a modern Procopius, he founded in 1686 what has become the oldest extant café in ...

(1651–1727), chef * Giovanna Bonanno (1713–1789), alleged witch and poisoner * Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (1743–1795), traveller, occultist * Lucia Migliaccio (1770–1826), second wife of the king

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand I ...

* Pietro Bachi (1787–1853), professor * Giuseppa Bolognara Calcagno (1826–1884), freedom fighter * Joseph Whitaker (1850–1936), ornithologist, archaeologist and sportsman * Maria Paternò Arezzo (1869–1908), noblewoman, philanthropist *

Ignazio Florio Jr. Ignazio Florio Jr. (Palermo, 1 September 1869 – Palermo, 19 September 1957) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.

(1869–1957), entrepreneur * Franca Florio (1873–1950), noblewoman, socialite *

Vincenzo Florio Vincenzo Florio Jr. (18 March 1883 – 6 January 1959) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio entrepreneurial dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

race *

Frank Lentini Francesco "Frank" Lentini (May 18, 1889 − September 21, 1966) was an Italian-American sideshow performer who toured with numerous circuses. Born with a parasitic twin, Lentini had three legs. Early life Lentini was born at 8 Gintoli Street, Ros ...

(1884/1889–1966), showman *

Josephine Terranova Josephine Pullare Terranova (April 21, 1889, in San Stefano, Sicily, Italy – July 16, 1981, in Marin County, California) was the defendant in a sensational murder trial in New York City in 1906. After years of alleged sexual abuse at the han ...

(1889–1981), accused murderer *

Fulco di Verdura Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura and Marquis of Murata la Cerda (20 March 1898 – 15 August 1978), was an influential Italian jeweller. His career began with an introduction to designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel by composer Cole Por ...

(1898–1978), jeweller * Nunzio Filogamo (1902–2002), television and radio presenter *

Bernard Castro Bernard Castro (August 11, 1904 – August 24, 1991) was the inventor of the modern convertible couch. Born in Sicily, Castro emigrated to the U.S. in 1919. He never finished high school but went to work as an upholsterer’s apprentice. In 1931 ...

(1904–1991), inventor * Nicolò Carosio (1907–1984), sport journalist * Raimondo Lanza di TrabiaSon of a Sicilian father and a Venetian mother, Lanza di Trabia was born in Lombardy but grew up in Palermo. (1915–1954), soldier, diplomat, sportsman * Rosalia Lombardo (1918–1920), known as the ''Sleeping Beauty'' * Renzo Barbera (1920–2002), businessman and sportsman *Salvatore Giuliano (1922–1950), bandit *Danilo Dolci (1924–1997), social activist, sociologist *Enzo Sellerio (1924–2012), photographer, publisher, and collector *Libero Grassi (1924–1991), manufacturer and antimafia activist *Paolo Giaccone (1929–1982) professor, forensic pathologist and Mafia’s victim *Nuccio Costa (1925–1991), television presenter *Pino Zac (1930–1985), illustrator *Pippo Baudo (born 1936), television presenter *Giuseppe Coco (1936–2012), illustrator *Lino Saputo (born 1937), businessman *Giucas Casella (born 1949), illusionist, hypnotist *Michele Cucuzza (born 1955), television presenter *Domenico Dolce (born 1958), fashion designer *Rosario Fiorello (born 1960), singer, television personality *Pietro Scalia (born 1960), film editor *Angelo d'Arrigo (1961–2006), aviator *Fabrizio Corona (born 1974), photographer, actor, television personality *Eleonora Abbagnato (born 1978), ballet dancer, model *Eva Riccobono (born 1983), model *Miriam Leone (born 1985), model, television personality *Diletta Leotta (born 1991), television personality

Notable people of Sicilian descent by birthplace

Europe

*Cardinal Mazarin, Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino (1602–1661), cardinal and Chief minister of France *Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757), composer *Luigi Almirante (1884–1963), actor *

(1888–1978), painter *Totò (1898–1967), actor *Julius Evola (1898–1974), political philosopher, esotericist, painter *Lanza del Vasto, Giuseppe Giovanni Lanza del Vasto (1901–1981), philosopher, poet, artist *Pietro Ingrao (1915-2015), politician *Enrico Maria Salerno (1926–1994), actor *Emanuele Severino (1929–2020), philosopher *Bartolomeo Sorge (1929-2020), Jesuit *Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017), actor *Sophia Loren (born 1934), actress *Bettino Craxi (1934–2000), politician, former Prime Minister of Italy *Giuliano Amato (born 1938), politician, former Prime Minister of Italy *Giorgio La Malfa (born 1939), politician *Toto Cutugno (born 1943), singer-songwriter *Beppe Grillo (born 1948), actor and politician *Gaetano Scirea (born 1953), footballer *Francesco Rutelli (born 1954), Mayor of Rome *Michele Serra (born 1954), writer and journalist *Ignazio Marino (born 1955), Mayor of Rome *Sergio Scariolo (born 1961), basketball coach *Amadeus (presenter), Amadeus (born 1962), Tv presenter *Antonio Albanese (born 1964), actor *Paolo Virzì (born 1964), film director, writer, producer *Max Gazzè (born 1967), singer-songwriter *Gianluigi Lentini (born 1969), footballer *Stefan Schwoch (born 1969), footballer *Massimo Oddo (born 1976), footballer *Giorgia Meloni (born 1977), politician *Luca Argentero (born 1978), actor *Sebastian Giovinco (born 1987), footballer *Vito Mannone (born 1988), footballer *Roberto Gagliardini (born 1994), footballer *Nicola Cabibbo (born 1935), physicist *Dario Argento (born 1940), film director Belgium: *Enzo Scifo (born 1966), footballer, football manager *Lara Fabian (born 1970), singer *Silvio Proto (born 1983), footballer France: *Jean-Paul Belmondo (born 1933), actor *Roberto Alagna (born 1963), tenor *Jean Alesi (born 1964), Formula One driver *Nathalie Cardone (born 1967), actress, singer *Alexandre del Valle (born 1968), writer, professor, columnist *Calogero (singer), Calogero (born 1971), singer *Fabio Quartararo (born 1999), motorcycle racer Germany: *Ralph Giordano (writer), Ralph Giordano (1923–2014), writer *Lou Bega (born 1975), singer *Vincenzo Grifo (born 1993), footballer Switzerland: *Sébastien Buemi (1988), Formula One driver United Kingdom: *Gia Scala (1934–1972), actress *Tony Iommi (born 1948), guitarist *Ronnie O'Sullivan (born 1975), professional snooker player *Luke Pasqualino (born 1990), actor *Nico Mirallegro (born 1991), actor

Africa

Algeria: *Edwige Fenech (born 1948), actress Libya: *Claudio Gentile (born 1953), footballer, football manager Tunisia: *Sandra Milo (born 1933), actress *Claudia Cardinale (born 1938), actress *Claude Bartolone (born 1951), politician, former President of the National Assembly of France

America

Argentina: *Salvador Mazza (1886–1946), physician, epidemiologist *Argentina Brunetti (1907–2005), actress *René Favaloro (1923–2000), cardiac surgeon *Duilio Marzio (1923–2013), actor *Alfredo Di Stéfano (1926–2014), footballer, football manager *Carlos Bilardo (born 1939), footballer, football manager *Alfio Basile (born 1943), footballer, football manager *Ricardo Bochini (born 1954), footballer *Martín Palermo (born 1973), footballer *Gabriel Heinze (born 1978), footballer *Florencia Bertotti (born 1983), actress, singer *Javier Mascherano (born 1984), footballer *Federico Fazio (born 1987), footballer *Leonel Vangioni (born 1987), footballer Canada: *Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007), actress, dancer, singer *Joey Saputo (born 1964), businessman, sportsman *Michael Cammalleri (born 1982), ice hockey player *Carmelina Moscato (born 1984), soccer player *Michael Cera (born 1988), actor, musician United States: *List of Sicilian-Americans Ye

Australia

Australia: *Tina Arena (born 1967), singer-songwriter *Natalie Imbruglia (born 1975), singer, actress *The Veronicas (born 1984), singers *Daniel Ricciardo (born 1989), Formula One driver