Ernesto Ferrero


Ernesto Ferrero was an Italian writer, literary critic and translator.
WWW ernestoferrero.com

Life and career

Born in Turin, in 1963 Ferrero started his career as a press officer for the Einaudi publishing house. He made his literary debut with a dictionary of Italian slang, which won the Viareggio Prize for First Work.
Ferrero is best known for the novel N, a reconstruction of Napoleon's stay on Elba through the diary of his librarian; the book was translated in numerous foreign languages, won the Strega Prize and was freely adapted by Paolo Virzì into a film, Napoleon and Me. His 2011 biographical novel about Emilio Salgari Disegnare il vento won the Premio Selezione Campiello. His last book was Album di famiglia, a collection of intimate portraits of literary authors.
Ferrero directed the Turin International Book Fair from 1998 to 2016. He translated works of Gustave Flaubert, Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Georges Perec. He also wrote critical essays and collaborated with various newspapers and television programmes. He died on 31 October 2023, at the age of 85.