This is a list of notable southern Italians.

Architects

Pirro Ligorio (c. 1510 – 1583), was a famous architect of the late Italian Renaissance. Giacomo del Duca (c. 1520 – 1604), architect, sculptor, garden designer and assistant to Michelangelo. Filippo Juvarra (1678–1736), architect of the late baroque and early rococo periods. Filippo Raguzzini (1690–1771), was an architect. A master of Roman Rococo. Rosario Gagliardi (1698–1762), was one of the leading architects working in the Sicilian Baroque. Luigi Vanvitelli (1700–1773), "architect whose enormous Royal Palace at Caserta was one of the last triumphs of the Italian Baroque."Luigi Vanvitelli. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2014. Web. 20 January 2014. Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702–1768), "leading architect of the Sicilian Baroque."Godfrey, Frederick M. Italian architecture up to 1750. Taplinger Pub. Co., 1971. p. 329. Web. 21 January 2014. Antonio Rinaldi (с. 1709 – 1794), was an architect who taught and worked in St. Petersburg. Vincenzo Sinatra (1720–1765), "worked as a stone cutter, a capomaestro, a tax estimator, and an architect in the city of Noto in southeastern Sicily."Placzek, Adolf K. Macmillan encyclopedia of architects. Free Press, 1982. p. 73. Web. 29 January 2014. Carlo Rossi (1775–1849), architect, was one of the last great exponents of Neoclassicism in Saint Petersburg. Ernesto Basile (1857–1932), was an architect, teacher and designer, son of Giovan Battista Filippo Basile. Simon Rodia (1879–1965), was an architect. His most famous creation are the Watts Towers. Clorindo Testa (1923–2013), was a renowned architect and artist, famous for designing The National Library in Buenos Aires.

Chess players Paolo Boi (1528–1598), was a chess player. "He is widely considered the 3rd unofficial chess champion of the world from 1587–1598."Paolo Boi. Rook House: Chess History, Articles, Games, Puzzles, and Books. Web. 15 February 2014. Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona (1542–1587), was a "Neapolitan lawyer and one of the strongest players of his time."Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth. The Oxford companion to chess. Oxford University Press, 1996. p. 223. Web. 15 February 2014. Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610), was a master who made significant contributions to chess analysis and theory. Alessandro Salvio (c. 1570 – c. 1640), was a "chess player who was considered by many to be the 4th unofficial world champion between the years 1598 and 1620."Alessandro Salvio. Rook House: Chess History, Articles, Games, Puzzles, and Books. Web. 15 February 2014. Pietro Carrera (1573–1647), was a priest, chess player and author from Militello, Sicily. Gioachino Greco (c. 1600 – c. 1634), also known as Il Calabrese, was "the most famous [chess] player of the seventeenth century."Horowitz, Israel Albert. The world chess championship: a history. Macmillan, 1973. p. 2. Web. 15 February 2014. Fabiano Caruana (born 1992), is a former chess prodigy. One of the youngest grandmasters of all times.

Cinematography

Elvira Notari (1875–1946), "was the first Italian female filmmaker."Cantini, Maristella. Italian Women Filmmakers and the Gendered Screen. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. p. 29. Web. 14 February 2014. Ricciotto Canudo (1877–1923), was a writer, critic and film theoretician, lived in Paris from about 1902. Robert G. Vignola (1882–1953), actor, screenwriter and film director, considered "one of the silent screen's most prolific directors".Michael R. Pitts, Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940, McFarland, 2005, p.236 Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926), an actor who was idolized as the "Great Lover" of the 1920s. Frank Capra (1897–1991), motion-picture director who was the most prominent filmmaker of the 1930s, during which he won three Academy Awards as best director. Totò (1898–1967), was a comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter. He has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Eduardo De Filippo (1900–1984), one of the twentieth century's greatest playwrights, was also an original interpreter of his plays and a cinema actor as well. Vittorio De Sica (1901–1974), film director and actor. His Shoeshine, The Bicycle Thief, and Umberto D. are classics of postwar Italian neorealism. Peppino De Filippo (1903–1980), was a comic actor of the screen and stage. Amedeo Nazzari (1907–1979), real name Salvatore Amedeo Buffa, was a famous actor from Sardinia. Ennio Flaiano (1910–1972), "screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic."Ennio Flaiano. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2014. Web. 20 January 2014. Dino De Laurentiis (1919–2010), was "one of the most colorful, prolific, and successful producers in the contemporary motion picture business."De Laurentiis, Dino. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 2001. Web. 5 February 2014. Vincent Gardenia (January 1920 – 1992), was a performer who had an award-winning career as a character actor on stage, films and television. Ugo Pirro (April 1920 – 2008), was a scriptwriter who co-wrote two Oscar-winning films. Adolfo Celi (July 1922 – 1986), "gained renown as a 'renaissance' man of theater and films, doing triple duty as an actor, writer and director."Hal Erickson, Rovi. Adolfo Celi (Biography). AMG AllMovie Guide. Web. 29 January 2014. Francesco Rosi (November 1922), is a film director, best known for his masterpiece Salvatore Giuliano. Nanni Loy (1925–1995), film director. He was well known for his film The Four Days of Naples, which was nominated in 1963 for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Pasqualino De Santis (1927–1996), was a cinematographer. In 1969, he earned an Academy Award for his superb photography of Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. Bud Spencer (1929–2016), an actor and filmmaker. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films together with his longtime film partner Terence Hill. Ettore Scola (1931–2016), is among the most daring, creative, innovative, and committed of the great Italian writer-directors. Pier Angeli (19 June 1932 – 1971), was a popular actress in the fifties. She received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe. Marisa Pavan (19 June 1932 – 2023), actress and twin sister of Pier Angeli. She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for her work in The Rose Tattoo. Sophia Loren (born 1934), film actress. She won a best actress Academy Award for Two Women. Other films include Marriage Italian Style. Claudia Cardinale (born 1938), is an actress who appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. Ruggero Deodato (1939–2022), is a film director, actor and screenwriter, famous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust., considered the precursor of the found footage genre. Dario Argento (born 1940), is a film director known for his mastery of the horror genre. Deep Red along with Suspiria is one of the best Argento films. Gianni Amelio (born 1945), one of Italy's most revered modern directors, whose 1992 film The Stolen Children won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Michele Placido (born 1946), is an internationally known actor and director. Gabriele Salvatores (born 1950), is best known as the director of the war drama Mediterraneo, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign language Film in 1992. Massimo Troisi (1953–1994), was an actor, film director, and poet. He is internationally known due to the success of the movie Il Postino. Ornella Muti (born 1955), is an actress, known for Oscar, Flash Gordon, and Un couple épatant. Giuseppe Tornatore (born 1956), film director and screenwriter. He earned international acclaim in 1988 with his second film, Cinema Paradiso. Giuliana De Sio (born 1957), is an actress, known for The Pool Hustlers, The Wicked, and Scusate il ritardo. Mauro Fiore (born 1964), Academy Award-winning cinematographer for Avatar. Valeria Golino (born 1965), is a famous actress, known to a large audience for her interest in different types of genres of movies and roles. Paolo Sorrentino (born 1970), film director and screenwriter. Internationally known for his film The Great Beauty. Giovanna Mezzogiorno (born 1974), is an actress and producer, known for Facing Windows, Vincere, and The Last Kiss.

Criminals Bandits Fra Diavolo (1771–1806), bandit and military leader who fought the French occupation of Naples. Ciro Annunchiarico (1775–1817), Apulian priest and brigand. Carmine Crocco (1830–1905), the most famous brigand of the Italian unification, noted for heading 2.000 men and for his brilliant guerrilla warfare.John Ellis, A short history of guerrilla warfare, Allan, 1975, p.83 Giuseppe Musolino (1876–1956), brigand from Calabria. Salvatore Giuliano (1922–1950), bandit, active in Sicily during the Second World War.

Mafia

Vito Cascioferro (1862–1943), was a member of the Inglese Mafia family in Palermo, Sicily, and had fled to New York in 1900 to avoid a murder charge. James Colosimo (1877–1920), "crime czar in Chicago from about 1902 until his death, owner of plush brothels, saloons, and a nightclub."James Colosimo. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2014. Web. 1 February 2014. Johnny Torrio (1882–1957), was a gangster who became a top crime boss in Chicago. Joe Masseria (17 January 1886 – 1931), "leading crime boss of New York City from the early 1920s until his murder in 1931."Joe Masseria. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2014. Web. 5 February 2014. Frank Nitti (27 January 1886 – 1943), a gangster who was Al Capone's chief enforcer and inherited Capone's criminal empire when Capone went to prison in 1931. Frank Costello (1891–1973), nicknamed "The Prime Minister of the Underworld," he became one of the most powerful and influential mob bosses in American history. Joe Profaci (October 1897 – 1962), was "one of the most powerful bosses in U.S. organized crime from the 1940s to the early 1960s."Joseph Profaci. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2014. Web. 6 February 2014. Lucky Luciano (24 November 1897 – 1962), mobster who is credited as the father of modern organized crime in the United States. Vito Genovese (27 November 1897 – 1969), was one of the most powerful figures in the history of organized crime in the United States. Carlo Gambino (August 1902 – 1976), was the most powerful crime figure in the United States before his death in 1976. Albert Anastasia (September 1902 – 1957), was one of the most ruthless and feared Cosa Nostra mobsters in U. S. history. Antonio Macrì (c. 1902 – 1975), was a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta. Michele Navarra (5 January 1905 – 1958), doctor and Mafia boss in Corleone; murdered in 1958 by his fosterson, Luciano Leggio. Joseph Bonanno (18 January 1905 – 2002), was a mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. Luciano Leggio (1925–1993), was a criminal and leading figure of the Sicilian Mafia. Tommaso Buscetta (1928–2000), was an influential Sicilian mafioso from Palermo. Salvatore Riina (born 1930), is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. The most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Giuseppe Calò (born 1931), is a Sicilian Mafia boss, also known as the "Mafia's cashier."Reski, Petra. The Honoured Society: My Journey to the Heart of the Mafia. Atlantic Books Ltd, 2013. Web. 6 February 2014. Bernardo Provenzano (born 1933), is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. The boss of bosses of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006. Giuseppe Morabito (born 1934), is a criminal and a historical boss of the 'Ndrangheta. Benedetto Santapaola (born 1938), better known as Nitto is a prominent mafioso from Catania. Stefano Bontade (1939–1981), was an influential member of the Sicilian Mafia. Raffaele Cutolo (born 1941), is a crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata. Leoluca Bagarella (February 1942), is a member of the Sicilian Mafia.