List of people from Milan

Last updated March 04, 2025 • 15 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Entrepreneurs

Ferdinando Bocconi (1836–1908), Italian entrapreneur and politician, founder of Bocconi University
Ernesto Breda (1852–1918), Italian engineer and entrepreneur
Davide Campari [ it ] (1867–1936), businessman; born in Milan^[1]
Federico Confalonieri (1785–1846), businessman
Enrico Cuccia (1907–2000), banker
Ernesto De Angeli [ it ] (1849–1907), businessman and senator; he founded the Società Ernesto De Angeli e C, a textile company manufacturing cotton prints^[2]
Carlo Erba (1811–1888) [ it ], businessman and pharmacist who founded Carlo Erba SpA
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (1926–1972), influential Italian publisher, businessman, and political activist
Ferdinando Innocenti (1891–1966), Italian businessman who founded the machinery–works company Innocenti and manufacturer of the Lambretta motorscooter
Enrico Mattei (1906–1962), Italian public administrator and chairman of Eni
Arnoldo Mondadori (1889–1971), book publisher
Angelo Moratti (1909–1981), Italian oil tycoon and the former owner of Inter Milan from 1955 to 1968
Massimo Moratti (born 1945), Italian billionaire petroleum businessman, the former owner of Inter Milan and chairman of the Saras Group
Angelo Motta (1890–1957), Italian entrepreneur, and founder of the food company Motta
Angelo Rizzoli (1889–1970), Italian publisher and film producer
Edoardo Sonzogno (1836–1920), Italian publisher

Fashion designers

Giorgio Armani (born 1934), Italian fashion designer
Domenico Dolce (born 1958), Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur, founder (along with Stefano Gabbana) the luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana
Mariuccia Mandelli (1925–2015), Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur
Miuccia Prada (born 1949), fashion designer

Fine arts

Architects and designers

Donato Felice d'Allio (1677–1761), Rococo style, worked in Austria
Luca Beltrami (1854–1933), Italian architect and architectural historian
Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Italian Renaissance architect and painter
Bramantino (1456–c. 1530), Italian Renaissance architect and painter
Filarete (c. 1400–c. 1469), Florentine Renaissance architect, sculptor, medallist, and architectural theorist
Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), Italian architect and designer
Giovanni Muzio (1893–1982), Italian architect
Giuseppe Piermarini (1734–1808), Italian architect who designed the Teatro alla Scala
Gino Pollini (1903–1991), Italian architect
Gio Ponti (1891–1979), Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher
Aldo Rossi (1931–1997), Italian architect and designer, one of the leading proponents of the postmodern movement, laureate of the Pritzker Prize in 1990
Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), Italian architect and designer
Giuseppe Terragni (1904–1943), Italian architect, pioneer of the Italian modern movement under the rubric of Rationalism
Marco Zanuso (1916–2001), Italian Modernist architect and designer

Painters

Filippo Abbiati (1640–1715)
Mario Acerbi (painter) (1887–1982)
Angelo Achini (1850–1930)
Franz Adam (1815–1886)
Luigi Ademollo (1764–1849)
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526–1593), Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books
Carlo Paolo Agazzi (1870–1922)
Federico Agnelli (1626–1702), engraver
Leonardo di Bisuccio (15th century), Italian painter of the Renaissance period
Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916), Italian Futurist painter and sculptor
Caravaggio (1571–1610), Italian painter
Carlo Carrà (1881–1966), Italian Futurist painter
Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), Italian painter and writer
Dadamaino (1930–2004), painter
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect
Filippo De Pisis (1896–1956), Italian painter and poet
Claudio Detto (born 1950), Italian contemporary art painter
Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), Argentine–Italian painter, sculptor and theorist
Vincenzo Foppa (c. 1427–1430–c. 1515–1516), Italian Renaissance painter
Francesco Hayez (1791–1882), Italian painter
Bruno Munari (1907–1998), artist, designer
Giorgio Salmoiraghi (1936–2022)
Alberto Savinio (1891–1952), Greek–Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, set designer and composer
Giovanni Segantini (1858–1899), Italian painter
Mario Sironi (1885–1961), Italian Modernist artist who active as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, and designer
Saul Steinberg (1914–1999), American artist
Guglielmo Stella (1828–1888), painter and writer
Luigi Veronesi (1908–1998), Italian photographer, painter, scenographer and film director
Bernardino Zenale (c. 1460–1526), Italian painter and architect

Photographers

Gabriele Basilico (1944–2013)
Fabio Ponzio (born 1959)
Oliviero Toscani (1942–2025)

Sculptors

Antonio Canova (1757–1822), Italian Neoclassical sculptor
Mario Merz (1925–2003), sculptor
Arnaldo Pomodoro (born 1926), sculptor
Gio Pomodoro (1930–2002), sculptor
Medardo Rosso (1858–1928), Italian post–Impressionist sculptor
Adolfo Wildt (1868–1931), Italian sculptor

Literature and historians

Joseph Allegranza (1715–1785)
Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, economist and politician
Giovanni Berchet (1783–1851), Italian poet and patriot
Enzo Biagi (1920–2007), Italian journalist, writer and former partisan
Luciano Bianciardi (1922–1971), Italian journalist, translator and writer of short stories and novels
Giorgio Bocca (1920–2011), Italian essayist and journalist
Valentino Bompiani (1898–1992), Italian publisher, writer and playwright
Alfredo Bracchi (1897–1976), versatile Italian writer
Gianni Brera (1919–1992), Italian sports journalist and novelist
Cesare Cantù (1804–1895), Italian historian, writer, archivist and politician
Carlo Cattaneo (1801–1869), Italian philosopher, writer, and activist
Enrica Collotti Pischel [ it ] (1930–2003), Marxist historian specializing in Asia^[3]
Adelaide Coari (1881–1966), Italian journalist, activist, and teacher
Una Chi (1942–2021), Italian translator and writer
Ottavio Codogno (1570/74–1630), author of a guidebook to the postal services of early 17th–century Europe
Bernardino Corio (1459–1519?), historian, author of the Storia di Milano
Vincenzo Cuoco (1770–1823), Italian writer
Ivan Della Mea (1940–2009), Italian novelist, journalist, singer, songwriter and political activist
Carlo Dossi (1849–1910), Italian writer, politician and diplomat
Francesco Filelfo (1398–1481), Italian Renaissance humanist
Dario Fo (1926–2016), Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature
Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973), Italian writer and poet
Brunella Gasperini (1918–1979), Italian journalist and novelist
Melchiorre Gioia (1767–1829), Italian writer on philosophy and political economy
Julien Green (1900–1998), American writer
Tommaso Grossi (1791–1853), Italian poet and novelist
Umberto Eco (1932–2016), Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator
Clara Maffei (1814–1886), Italian woman of letters and backer of the Risorgimento
Carlo Maria Maggi (1630–1699), Italian scholar, writer and poet
Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet, novelist and philosopher
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944), Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement
Eugenio Montale (1896–1981), Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
Indro Montanelli (1909–2001), Italian journalist, historian, and writer
Vincenzo Monti (1754–1828), Italian poet, playwright, translator, and scholar
Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), Italian poet and translator, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1959
Giuseppe Parini (1729–1799), Italian enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period
Silvio Pellico (1789–1854), Italian writer, poet, dramatist and patriot active in the Italian unification
Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), scholar and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, and one of the earliest humanists
Carlo Porta (1775–1821), Italian poet
Bonvesin da la Riva (c. 1240–c. 1313), Italian Medieval writer and poet
Giuseppe Rovani (1818–1874), Italian novelist and essayist
Alberto Savinio (1891–1952), Greek–Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, set designer and composer
Beppe Severgnini (born 1956), Italian journalist, essayist and columnist
Stendhal (1783–1842), 19th–century French writer
Carlo Tenca (1816–1883), Italian man of letters, journalist, deputy and supporter of the Risorgimento
Delio Tessa (1886–1939), Italian poet
Leo Valiani (1909–1999), Italian historian, politician, and journalist
Alessandro Verri (1741–1816), Italian author
Pietro Verri (1728–1797), Italian economist, historian, philosopher and writer
Elio Vittorini (1908–1966), Italian writer and novelist

Media

Actors/Actresses of Film, Theatre and TV

Diego Abatantuono (born 1955)
Cele Abba (1906–1992)
Marta Abba (1900–1988)
Gino Bramieri (1928–1996), Italian comedian and actor
Nino Castelnuovo (1936–2021), Italian actor
Valentina Cortese (1923–2019), Italian film and theatre actress
Fabio Lanzoni (born 1959), Italian actor and model
Mariangela Melato (1941–2013), award-winning Italian film and theater actress
Marco Lui (born 1975), mime and comedian
Tino Scotti (1905–1984), Italian film actor
Franca Valeri (1920–2020), Italian actress, playwright, screenwriter, author, and theatre director
María de Navas (1678–1721), actress

Directors and filmmakers

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912–2007), Italian director and filmmaker
Tinto Brass (born 1933), Italian film director and screenwriter
Axel Braun (born 1966), adult film producer and director
Attilio Colonello (1930–2021), scenic designer and stage director for opera
Paolo Grassi (1919–1981), Italian theatrical impresario
Gabriele Salvatores (born 1950), Italian Academy Award–winning film director and screenwriter
Giorgio Strehler (1921–1997), Italian stage director, theatre practitioner, actor and politician

TV and radio presenter

Lucilla Agosti (born 1978), TV and radio presenter and actress
Mike Bongiorno (1924–2009), Italian–American television presenter

Musicians

Composers

Arrigo Boito (1842–1918), Italian librettist, composer, poet and critic
Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), Italian composer primarily known for his operas
Pino Presti (born 1943) Italian bassist, arranger, composer, conductor and record producer
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901), Italian composer best known for his operas

Pianists

Marcello Abbado (1926–2020)
Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini (1720–1795), harpsichordist
Maurizio Pollini (born 1942), pianist

Singers

Manuel Agnelli (born 1966), alternative rock, member of the band Afterhours
Ghigo Agosti (1936–2024), also comedy rock
Teresa Berganza (1933–2022), Spanish mezzo–soprano
Maria Callas (1923–1977), opera singer
Adriano Celentano (born 1938), Italian singer, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker
Ir, dami Corradetti (1904–1998)
Giovanni D'Anzi (1906–1974), musician
Emilio De Marchi (1861–1917), Italian operatic tenor
Eugenio Finardi (born 1952), Italian rock singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist
Renato Fumagalli (born 1945), Italian singer/songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Giorgio Gaber (1939–2003), musician, actor
Enzo Jannacci (1935–2013), Italian singer–songwriter, pianist, actor and comedian
Carmelo La Bionda (1949–2022), one of the pioneers of italo disco
Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952), one of the pioneers of italo disco
Alessandro Mahmoud (born 1992), singer–songwriter, Italian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019 and 2022
Mina (born 1940), singer
Laura Pausini (born 1974), musician
Alberto Rabagliati (1906–1974), Italian jazz singer
Cristina Scabbia (born 1972), singer of Lacuna Coil
Renata Tebaldi (1922–2004), Italian lirico–spinto soprano

Orchestral conductors

Claudio Abbado (1933–2014)
Roberto Abbado (born 1954)
Riccardo Chailly (born 1953)
Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), Italian conductor and composer
Riccardo Muti (born 1941), Italian conductor
Pino Presti (born 1943)
Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957)

Politicians

Vittorio Agnoletto (born 1958), (Communist Refoundation Party), member of the European Parliament
Luigi Albertini (1871–1941)
Alboinus (530s–572), king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572
Eugène de Beauharnais (1781–1824), Viceroy of Italy during the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, whose capital was Milan
Bellovesus (lived ca. 600 BC), legendary Gallic chief of the Bituriges
Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023), Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments
Felice Cavallotti (1842–1898), Italian politician, poet and dramatic author
Bettino Craxi (1934–2000), Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993 and Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987
Cesare Correnti (1815–1888), Italian revolutionary and politician
Emilio Dandolo (1830–1859), important figure in the Italian Risorgimento
Diocletianus (242/245–311/312), Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305
Beatrice d'Este (1475–1497) was Duchess of Bari and Milan by marriage to Ludovico Sforza
Alberto da Giussano (12th century), legendary character who would have participated, as a protagonist, in the battle of Legnano on 29 May 1176
Anna Kuliscioff (1857–1925), Russian–born Italian revolutionary, a prominent feminist, an anarchist
Ugo La Malfa (1903–1979), Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party
Licinius (c. 265–325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324, who co–authored the Edict of Milan
Giovanni Malagodi (1904–1991), Italian liberal politician, secretary of the Italian Liberal Party (Partito Liberale Italiano; PLI), and president of the Italian Senate
Francesco Melzi d'Eril (1753–1816), Italian politician and patriot, serving as vice–president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic (1802–1805)
Teresa Meroni (1885–1951), trade unionist, and socialist
Cesare Merzagora (1898–1991), Italian politician
Mario Monti (born 1943), Italian economist who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013
Letizia Moratti (born 1949), Italian businesswoman and politician, president of RAI (1994–1996), minister of Education, University and Research (2001–2006), mayor of Milan (2006–2011)
Ferruccio Parri (1890–1981), Italian partisan, anti–fascist politician and the first Prime Minister of Italy to be appointed after the end of World War II
Giuseppe Prina (1766–1814), Italian statesman killed in the Milan riots of 1814
Gianni Rivera (born 1943), Italian politician and former footballer
Francesco I Sforza (1401–1466), and Duke of Milan from 1450 until his death, the first member of the Sforza family to rule Milan
Francesco II Sforza (1495–1535) was Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death, the last member of the Sforza family to rule Milan
Ludovico Sforza (1452–1508), Italian nobleman who ruled as the Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499
Massimiliano Sforza (1493–1530), Duke of Milan from 1512 to 1515
Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1440 or 1441–1518), Italian aristocrat and condottiero
Filippo Turati (1857–1932), Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician
Umberto Veronesi (1925–2016), Italian oncologist, physician, scientist and politician
Agnese Visconti (1363–1391), consort of Francesco I Gonzaga Lord of Mantua
Bernabò Visconti (1323–1385), Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan
Filippo Maria Visconti (1392–1447), duke of Milan from 1412 to 1447
Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1351–1402), first duke of Milan from 1395 to 1402
Luchino Visconti (1906–1976), Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter
Matteo Visconti (1250–1322), second of the Milanese Visconti family to govern Milan
Ottone Visconti (1207–1295) was Archbishop of Milan and Lord of Milan, the first of the Visconti line

Religious figures

Alberto Ablondi (1924–2010)
Ferdinando d'Adda (1650–1719), cardinal of San Clemente, San Pietro in Vincoli, Santa Balbina and Albano, archbishop of Amasya and apostolic nuncio to Great Britain
Aicone (died 918), archbishop of Milan
Saint Ambrose (c. 339–397), Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397
Anspert (died 881), archbishop of Milan from 861 to 881
Aribert (between 970 and 980–1045), archbishop of Milan from 1018
Arnulf I, Archbishop of Milan [ it ] (died 974)^[4]
Arnulf II, Archbishop of Milan (died 1018)
Arnulf III, Archbishop of Milan (died 1097)
Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), lay Catholic teenager, set to be the first canonized millennial in the Catholic church
Saint Augustine (354–430), theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa
Saint Charles Borromeo (1538–1584), Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church
Federico Borromeo (1564–1631), Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan
Landolfo da Carcano (died 998), archbishop of Milan, as Landulf II, from 979 until his death
Saint Galdinus (c. 1096–1176), cardinal elevated in 1165 and Archbishop of Milan from 1166 to his death in 1176
Saint Gervasius (2nd century AD), Christian martyr
Luigi Giussani (1922–2005), Italian Catholic priest, theologian, educator
Carlo Maria Martini (1927–2012), Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004
Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli (1806–1864), pioneer Italian Dominican friar and Catholic missionary priest who helped bring the church to the Iowa–Illinois–Wisconsin tri–state area
Giovan Battista Montini (1897–1978), Pope Paul VI from 21 June 1963 to his death in August 1978)
Saint Protasius (2nd century AD), Christian martyr
Ildefonso Schuster (1880–1954), Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his death

Scientists

Marco Abate (born 1962)
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799), the world's first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics professor at a university, wrote the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus
Camillo Agrippa (1535–1595), is considered to be one of the greatest fencing theorists of all time
Enrico Bombieri (born 1940), Italian mathematician
Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich (1711–1787), physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa
Piero Bottoni [ it ]^[5]
Francesco Brioschi (1824–1897), Italian mathematician
Eugenio Calabi (1923–2023)
Gianni Caproni (1886–1957), Italian aeronautical engineer, civil engineer, electrical engineer, and aircraft designer
Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian polymath
Panfilo Castaldi (c. 1398–c. 1490), Italian physician and printer
Bonaventura Cavalieri (1598–1647)
Giuseppe Ciribini (1913–1990), engineer
Giuseppe Colombo (1920–1984), Italian scientist, mathematician and engineer
Ardito Desio (1897–2001), Italian explorer, mountain climber, geologist, and cartographer
Enrico Forlanini (1848–1930), Italian engineer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer
Paolo Frisi (1728–1784), Italian mathematician and astronomer
Agostino Gemelli (1878–1959), Italian Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist
Ludovico Geymonat (1908–1991), Italian mathematician, philosopher and historian of science
Riccardo Giacconi (1931–2018), Italian–American Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist
Pier Luigi Ighina (1908–2004), Italian researcher
Giulio Natta (1903–1979), Italian chemical engineer and laureate of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963
Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835–1910), Italian astronomer and science historian
Cicco Simonetta (1410–1480), Italian Renaissance statesman who composed an early treatise on cryptography
Antonio Stoppani (1824–1891), Italian Catholic priest, patriot, geologist and palaeontologist
Enzo Tonti (1935–2021), Italian physicist and mathematician
Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist and chemist, pioneer of electricity and power

Sport

Footballers

Camillo Achilli (1921–1998), football player and coach
Marco Achilli (1948–2009), football player, one–time Italian Serie A champion
Ermanno Aebi (1892–1976), football player and referee, two–time Italian Serie A champion
Enrico Annoni (born 1966), footballer
Franco Baresi (born 1960), Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager
Giuseppe Baresi (born 1958), Italian football manager and former player
Giuseppe Bergomi (born 1963), Italian former professional footballer who spent his entire career at Inter Milan
Aurelio Biassoni (1912–?)
Massimo Brambati (born 1966), Italian former footballer
Tito Celani (1921–1990), football player
Mario Ciminaghi (1910–?), football player
Renzo De Vecchi (1894–1967), Italian football player and coach
Giacinto Facchetti (1942–2006), Italian footballer, football player
Luciano Gariboldi (1927–1988), football player
Alessio Locatelli (born 1978), football player
Leonida Lucchetta (1911–?), football player
Paolo Maldini (born 1968), footballer
Roberto Manini (born 1942), football player
Valentino Mazzola (1919–1949), footballer
Giuseppe Meazza (1910–1979), Italian football manager and player
Giuseppe Mettica (1919–2003), football player
Rodolfo Negri (1913–?), football player
Egidio Notaristefano (born 1966), Italian football manager
Roberto Poluzzi (born 1936), retired professional football player
Michele Rocca (born 1996), footballer
Aldo Riva (1923–?), football player
Walter Zenga (born 1960), Italian football manager

Ice hockey

Giancarlo Agazzi (1932–1995), ice hockey player, coach and president, six–time Italian Serie A champion and two–time Spengler Cup champion

Olympic sports

Carlo Agostoni (1909–1972), épée, one–time Olympic champion and one–time world champion
Alessandro Aimar (born 1967), sprint

Racing drivers

Michele Alboreto (1956–2001), Italian racing driver
Alberto Ascari (1918–1955), Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion
Ivan Capelli (born 1963), Formula One driver
Madusa (born 1963), monster truck driver, professional wrestler

References

↑ Mauro Gobbini, "Campari, Davide", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Volume 17 (1974). Retrieved 15 August 2013.
↑ Giorgio Fiocca, "De Angeli, Ernesto", in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , volume 33 (Treccani, 1987). Retrieved 15 August 2013.
↑ Two obituaries Archived 4 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine from Tuttocina.it.
↑ Margherita Giuliana Bertolini, "Arnolfo", in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Volume 2 (Treccani, 1962). Retrieved 15 August 2013.
↑ "Bottoni, Piero", Enciclopedie online, Treccani.

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[1] Mauro Gobbini, "Campari, Davide", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Volume 17 (1974). Retrieved 15 August 2013.

[2] Giorgio Fiocca, "De Angeli, Ernesto", in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , volume 33 (Treccani, 1987). Retrieved 15 August 2013.

[3] Two obituaries Archived 4 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine from Tuttocina.it.

[4] Margherita Giuliana Bertolini, "Arnolfo", in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Volume 2 (Treccani, 1962). Retrieved 15 August 2013.

[5] "Bottoni, Piero", Enciclopedie online, Treccani.

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