This is a list of notable individuals from the geographic region of Italy, distinguished by their connection to the nation through residence in the region or legal status there. They are categorized based on their specific areas of achievement and prominence.
Acting
Jeff Cameron (1932–1985) actor Stefano Accorsi (born 1971) Henry Armetta (1888–1945), character actor Roberto Benigni (born 1952), Oscar-winning actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director Rossano Brazzi (1916–1994) Lando Buzzanca (1935–2022), theatrical, film, and television actor Mario Carotenuto (1916–1995), actor of film and theatre Nino Castelnuovo (1936–2021). Most famous for playing opposite Catherine Deneuve in the 1964 film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and in Italy, for his lead performance in the popular 1967 RAI TV mini-series . Tino Caspanello (born 1983), actor, playwright, director, and set designer Sergio Castellitto (born 1953), Italian actor, film director, screenwriter Pietro Castellitto (born 1991), actor, filmmaker Adolfo Celi (1922–1986), actor and director, played Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball Gino Cervi (1901–1974), actor and manager Walter Chiari (1924–1991), stage and screen actor Eduardo De Filippo (1900–1984), playwright and actor Manuel De Peppe (born 1970), actor, singer, arranger, music producer, composer, pianist, and drummer Sergio Franchi (1926–1999), film actor and singer Vittorio Gassman (1922–2000), film and theatre actor and director Elio Germano (born 1980), actor who won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. Giancarlo Giannini (born 1942), actor and dubber Terence Hill (born 1939), actor, who became famous for playing in Italian western movies (also known as Spaghetti Westerns). Roberto Lamarca (1959–2017), actor migrated to Venezuela. He is most recognised for his portrayal of Arístides Valerio, on the RCTV telenovela Por estas calles. Nino Manfredi (1921–2004), one of the most prominent actors in the commedia all'italiana genre. Marcello Mastroianni (1924–1996), actor who became the preeminent leading man in Italian cinema during the 1960s. Aldo Monti (1929–2016), actor migrated in Venezuela and Mexico Amedeo Nazzari (1907–1979), actor. Alberto Sordi (1920–2003), actor. Depicted the vices, virtues, and foibles of post-World War II Italy in a long career of mostly comic films. Giorgio Strehler (1921–1997), actor and theatre director, founder of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano Ugo Tognazzi (1922–1990), film and theatre actor Totò, born Antonio de Curtis (1898–1967), actor Massimo Troisi (1953–1994), actor and director Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926), actor Raf Vallone (1916–2002), actor, footballer, and journalist Carlo Verdone (born 1950), actor, screenwriter and film director Gian Maria Volonté (1933–1994), actor. Known outside of Italy for his roles in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965) Luca Zingaretti (born 1961), actor and film director, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in the Inspector Montalbano series Marta Abba (1900–1988) actress Pier Angeli (1932–1971), Golden Globe-winning television and film actress who starred in American, British and European films Laura Antonelli (1941–2015), actress Asia Argento (born 1975), actress, singer, model, and director Monica Bellucci (born 1964), actress and fashion model Francesca Bertini, silent film actress Nicoletta Braschi (born 1960), actress and producer, best known for her work with her husband, actor and director Roberto Benigni Clara Calamai (1909–1998), actress, known for playing Carlo's mother, the female lead in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943). Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025), actress Chiara Caselli (born 1967), actress Valentina Cortese (1923–2019), actress Eleonora Duse (1858–1924), actress, especially noted for her roles in Henrik Ibsen's plays."Eleonora Duse" Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web 2 March 2011. Valeria Golino (born 1966), film and television actress. Known to English language audiences for the 1988 film Rain Man, and the Hot Shots! films. Virna Lisi (1936–2014), actress, winner of Cannes and César awards. Gina Lollobrigida (1927–2023), actress. One of the first European sex symbols in the post-World War II era. Sophia Loren, actress. Her performance in the film Two Women (1960) won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first actor to win an Oscar for a non-English-language performance. Anna Magnani (1908–1973), actress. She was nominated twice for an Academy Award for best actress, winning the Oscar in 1955 for her role in The Rose Tattoo. Silvana Mangano (1930–1989), actress Elsa Martinelli (1935–2017), actress and fashion model Giulietta Masina (1921–1994), actress Mariangela Melato (1941–2013), actress Sandra Milo, actress Aldo Monti (1929–2016), actor. He migrated to Venezuela in 1947 and then to Mexico in 1957 Ornella Muti (born 1955), actress Wanda Osiris (1905–1994), actress, revue soubrette, and singer Rosanna Schiaffino (1939–2009), actress Alida Valli (1921–2006), actress Monica Vitti (1931–2022), actress Lorenzo Zurzolo (born 2000), actor Slut Boy Billy (born 1998), actor
Architects
Ancient Rome
Cocceius Auctus, Roman architect during the age of Augustus Lucius Vitruvius Cordo, Roman architect; known for his work Arco dei Gavi Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor under the reign of Trajan Rabirius, Roman architect active during the reign of Domitian Vitruvius, Roman writer, architect and engineer; author of De architectura, regarded as the oldest surviving text on the history of architecture
Middle Ages
Guglielmo Agnelli (–1313), sculptor and architect. He built the campanile of the Badia a Settimo. Pietro Baseggio (14th century), architect and sculptor. In 1361, he was named superintendent of construction for the Doge's palace. Bartolomeo Bon (died after 1464), sculptor and architect. Among his works are Gothic Ca' d'Oro (1424–1430) and the marble door of the church of Frari. Bertolino Bragerio (active c. 1288), builder of the cathedral of Cremona. Jacopo Celega (d. 1386), architect. Around 1330 he took over construction of the church of Frari. Diotisalvi (12th century), architect Maginardo (fl. 1006–1032), architect active in the Diocese of Arezzo Lorenzo Maitani (c. 1275–1330), architect and sculptor; primarily responsible for the construction and decoration of the façade of Orvieto Cathedral."Lorenzo Maitani" Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web 2 March 2011.
Renaissance Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), artist, architect and theoretician. He wrote De Re Aedificatoria in 1452; was the first architectural treatise of the Renaissance. Galeazzo Alessi (1512–1572), architect. His main works are the church Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, the Marino Palace (started in 1557) and the Parodi Palace (1567). Donato Bramante (1444–1514), architect. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, he drew up the new St. Peter's Basilica. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), architect. His major work is the dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420–1436). Bernardo Buontalenti (c. 1531–1608), architect, engineer, designer, painter and inventor. He was one of the great Renaissance polymaths.Turner, Jane. Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art (Volume II). Grove's Dictionaries, 2000. p. 295. Web 24 April 2011. Giacomo della Porta (c. 1533–1602), architect whose work represents the development in style from late Mannerism to early Baroque. Giovanni Maria Falconetto (1468–1535), architect and painter. Examples of his work include the Porta San Giovanni and the Porta Savonarola, two gates to the city of Padua. Filarete (c. 1400– c. 1469), architect, sculptor and writer. He wrote an important treatise, Libro architettonico (1464), defending the principles of ancient architecture. Domenico Fontana (1543–1607), architect who worked on St. Peter's Basilica and other famous buildings of Rome and Naples. Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1502), architect and theoretician. His Trattato di architettura, ingegneria e arte militare (1482) is one of the most important documents of Renaissance architectural theory. Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara (died 1500). Giuliano da Maiano (c. 1432–1490), architect; made an important contribution to spreading the Renaissance style to Southern Italy. Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1443–1516), sculptor, architect and military engineer; designed the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri at Prato and palaces in Florence. Luciano Laurana (c. 1420–1479), principal designer of the Palazzo Ducale at Urbino and one of the main figures in 15th century Italian architecture."Luciano Laurana" Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web 27 April 2011. Pirro Ligorio (c. 1510–1583), architect, painter, antiquarian and garden designer, known for his designs for the Casina of Pio IV in the Vatican and his gardens for the Villa d'Este at Tivoli. Michelozzo (1396–1472), architect and sculptor; designed the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, which set the standard for Renaissance palace architecture in Tuscany for the next century."Michelozzo" Encyclopedia of World Biography. Web 2 March 2011. Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), architect and theoretician. His treatise I quattro libri dell’architettura (1570) made him the most influential person in the history of Western architecture. Baldassare Peruzzi (1481–1536), architect and painter Antonio da Sangallo the Elder (c. 1453–1534), architect. He executed, under the influence of Bramante, the Church of the Madonna di San Biagio (1518–consecrated 1529). Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484–1546), architect. He designed the Palazzo Farnese in Rome (1534–46); a fortress like Florentine-style palace. Michele Sanmicheli (1484–1559), architect, especially noted for his original treatment of military fortifications. Jacopo Sansovino (1486–1570), sculptor and architect. His Library of St. Mark's is one of the major architectural works of the 16th century. Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552–1616), architect and theoretician, author of one of the most comprehensive Renaissance treatises, the six-volume L’Idea dell’Architettura Universale (1615)."Vincenzo Scamozzi" Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web 2 March 2011. Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554), architect and theoretician. He is remembered primarily for his treatise Tutte l'opere d'architettura et prospetiva (eight books, 1537–1575). Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573), architect. Among his works are the Villa Farnese for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and Villa Giulia for Pope Julius III.
Baroque Francesco Borromini (1599–1667), architect. His buildings include the churches of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1638–1641) and Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (1642–1660). Cosimo Fanzago (1591–1678), architect and sculptor; exponent of Baroque architecture in Naples Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) Rosario Gagliardi (1698–1762), Sicilian Baroque architect Guarino Guarini (1624–1683), architect. He was one of the first to analyse with perceptivity the structure of medieval architecture, in his treatise Architettura Civile (published posthumously in 1737). Filippo Juvarra (1678–1736), architect, draughtsman and designer Baldassarre Longhena (1598–1682), architect known for the Church of Santa Maria della Salute Carlo Maderno (1556–1629), architect; directed the construction of St. Peter's Basilica for a time Pietro da Cortona (1596–1669), architect, painter and decorator known for the Church of Santi Luca e Martina Carlo Rainaldi (1611–1691), architect of the Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli (1663–1667) Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700–1771), Baroque architect active in Russia Vincenzo Sinatra (1720–1765), architect. Following the 1693 Noto earthquake, Sinatra was responsible for many of the new buildings in the new city of Noto. Nicola Salvi (1697–1751), architect known for the Trevi Fountain.