List of people from Trieste

Italo Svevo

The Province of Trieste is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. The following is a list of notable Triestini (Triestines) and some outsiders who either wrote about the city or resided there.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Literature

Many famous authors were born and/or lived many years in Trieste. They include:

Italian-language authors

• Enzo Bettiza (1927–2017), writer and journalist, born in Split.
• Nicoletta Costa (born 1953), children's book writer and illustrator.
• Claudio Magris (born 1939), writer and essayist.
• Biagio Marin (1891–1985), poet (born in Grado).
• Giorgio Pressburger (1937–2017), author and director.
• Umberto Saba (1883–1957), poet.
• Francesco Saba Sardi (1922–2012), author, essayist and translator.
• Scipio Slataper (1888–1915), essayist.
• Giani Stuparich (1891–1961), writer and essayist.
• Italo Svevo (1861–1928), novelist. ^[1]
• Susanna Tamaro (born 1957), novelist.
• Fulvio Tomizza (1935–1999), writer, born in Istria (now in Croatia).

Vladimir Bartol

Slovene-language authors

• Marija Mijot (1902–1994), seamstress, dialectal poet and playwright
• Vladimir Bartol (1903–1967), writer.
• Igo Gruden (1893–1948), poet.
• Dušan Jelinčič (born 1953), writer, essayist, and mountain climber.
• Marica Nadlišek Bartol (1867–1940), writer and editor.
• Boris Pahor (1913–2022), novelist.
• Alojz Rebula (1924–2018), writer and essayist.

German-language authors

• Theodor Däubler (1876–1934), writer and poet.
• Robert Hamerling (1830–1889), writer.
• Ricarda Huch (1864–1947), writer.
• Julius Kugy (1858–1944), writer and essayist (born in Gorizia).
• Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), wrote Duino Elegies during his stay in Duino.

Authors in other languages

• Isabel Burton (1831–1896), English writer, explorer and adventurer.
• Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar, and soldier.
• James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic.
• D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.
• Charles Lever (1806–1872), Irish novelist and raconteur, whose novels, according to Anthony Trollope, were just like his conversation.
• Jan Morris (1926–2020), Welsh historian, author and travel writer.
• Stendhal (1783–1842), French author and essayist; served as Consul of France in Trieste.
• Alexander Wheelock Thayer (1817–1897), American librarian and journalist.
• Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.

Architects, inventors, gallerists, designers, and visual artists

• Emilio Ambrosini (1850–1912), architect.
• Milko Bambič (1905–1991), illustrator and cartoonist.
• Franca Batich (born 1940), Italian painter.
• Leo Castelli (1907–1999), pioneering gallerist and contemporary art dealer.
• Avgust Černigoj (1898–1985), painter.
• Bruno Chersicla (1937–2013), painter and sculptor.
• Tullio Crali (1910–2000), futurist painter.
• Marcello Dudovich (1878–1962), illustrator.
• Leonor Fini (1907–1996), artist.
• Giuseppe Lorenzo Gatteri (1829–1884), Italian painter.
• Isidoro Grünhut (1862–1896), artist.
• Alexander Kircher (1867–1939), painter.
• Franko Luin (1941–2005), Swedish-Slovene graphic designer.
• Argio Orell (1884–1942), painter.
• Boris Podrecca (born 1940), architect.
• Alessandra Querzola (born 1977), Oscar nominated set designer.
• Stanislav Rapotec (1913–1997), painter.
• Ruggero Rovan (1877–1965), sculptor.
• Felice Schiavoni (1803–1881), artist.
• Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909–1969), architect.
• Eugenio Scomparini (1845–1913), painter.
• Vito Timmel (1886–1949), painter.
• Jožef Tominc (1790–1866), Biedermeier painter.
• Antonio Valdoni (1834–1890), painter.
• Umberto Veruda (1868–1904), painter.
• Carlo Wostry (1865–1943), painter.

Actors, models, musicians, and performance artists

• Federico Agostini (born 1959), violinist.
• Alda Balestra (born 1954), fashion and beauty model.
• Antonio Bibalo (1922–2008), pianist and composer.
• Fedora Barbieri (1920–2003), Italian Mezzo-Soprano/Contralto opera singer.
• Piero Cappuccilli (1926–2005), operatic baritone.
• Antonio D'Antoni (1801–1859), opera composer and conductor.
• Raffaello de Banfield (1922–2008), British composer.
• George Dolenz (1908–1963), actor; father of Micky Dolenz of the Monkees.
• Hans Herbert Fiedler (1907–2004), opera stage actor.
• Fulvia Franco (1931–1988), Italian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder.
• Paul Henreid (1908–1992), actor.
• Alfred Jaëll (1832–1882), Austrian pianist.
• Tullio Kezich (1928–2009), actor, playwright, and screenwriter.
• Anita Kravos (born 1974), Italian actress.
• Paola Loew (1934–1999), actress.
• Paolo Longo (born 1967), composer and conductor.
• Alessandro Lotta (born 1975), former bassist of the bands Rhapsody of Fire and Wingdom.
• Lelio Luttazzi (1923–2010), musician, composer, showman and presenter.
• Mauro Maur (born 1958), trumpet player and composer.
• Alexander Moissi (1879–1935), Austrian stage actor of Albanian descent.
• Ave Ninchi (1914–1997), actress.
• Denis Novato (born 1976), Slovene musician.
• Loredana Nusciak (1942–2006), actress and model.
• Alberto Randegger (1832–1911), composer.
• Rodolfo Ranni (born 1937), Italian Argentine film actor.
• Ivan Rassimov (1938–2003), Italian actor of Serbian descent.
• Rada Rassimov (born 1941), Italian actress of Serbian descent.
• Enrico Rava (born 1939), jazz trumpeter.
• Teddy Reno (born 1926), singer and producer.
• Carlo Rizzo (1907–1979), stage and film actor.
• Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), conductor.
• Laura Solari (1913–1984), film actress.
• Alex Staropoli (born 1970), keyboardist of the band Rhapsody of Fire.
• Giorgio Strehler (1921–1997), opera and theater director.
• Elisa Toffoli (born 1977), singer-songwriter, pianist, and guitarist.
• Luca Turilli (born 1972), guitarist of the band Rhapsody of Fire.

Television personalities

• Lidia Bastianich (born 1947), Italian-American chef and television cooking show host whose family lived in a refugee camp in Trieste after their escape from Istria, Yugoslavia (now Croatia).
• Bianca Maria Piccinino (1924–2025), journalist RAI, the first woman to read a news broadcasting.

Entrepreneurs and business leaders

• Andrea Illy (born 1964), entrepreneur.
• Ernesto Illy (1925–2008), entrepreneur, founder of coffee empire.
• Francesco Illy (1892–1956), entrepreneur, inventor of coffee machinery.
• Lionello Stock (1866–1948), entrepreneur of liqueurs and beverages, founder of Stock S.p.A. (known for the Keglevich brand).
• Mihajlo Vučetić (1790–1882), grain merchant, shipowner and shareholder in Austrian Lloyd.

Fashion designers

• Renato Balestra (1924–2022), fashion designer.
• Adriano Goldschmied (born 1944), leading international denim designer; founder of Diesel and Replay jeans.
• Ottavio Missoni (1921–2013), fashion designer.
• Mila Schön (1916–2008), fashion designer.

Journalists and authors

• Sergio Amidei (1904–1981), screenwriter.
• Giovanna Botteri (born 1957), journalist.
• Almerigo Grilz (1953–1987), journalist, freelance war reporter and politician. Was killed during an African reportage.
• Leo Negrelli (born in Trieste, died in Spain in 1974), journalist.
• Ann Shulgin (1931–2022), author.
• Demetrio Volcic (1931–2021), journalist and politician.

Political figures

• Engelbert Besednjak (1894–1968), Slovene politician.
• Don Beyer (born 1950), U.S. representative for Virginia and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein ^[2]
• Willer Bordon (1949–2015), Italian politician, Minister of the Environment, 2000–2001.
• Gualtiero Driussi (1920–1996), Italian politician
• Josip Ferfolja (1880–1958), Slovenian social-democratic politician and human rights activist.
• Odilo Globočnik (1904–1945), Nazi war criminal, SS leader.
• Riccardo Illy (born 1955), Italian politician.
• Ezio Mizzan (1905–1969), Italian diplomat, the second Italian Ambassador to Thailand (1959–1965) and the ninth Italian Ambassador to Pakistan (1966–1969).
• Ilda Mizzan (1885–1922), Italian irredentist and painter, wife of Francesco Salata.
• Stefano Patuanelli (born 1974), Italian politician, minister of economic development.
• Mitja Ribičič (1919–2013), Slovenian Communist leader, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (1969–1971).
• Vittorio Vidali (aka Enea Sormenti, Jacobo Hurwitz Zender, Carlos Contreras) (1900–1983), Communist agent.
• Josip Wilfan (1878–1955), Slovene jurist, politician, and human rights activist.

Religious figures

• Pietro Bonomo (1458–1546), humanist and bishop, supporter of the Protestant Reformation.
• Moisè Tedeschi (1821–1898), rabbi and Bible commentator.

Educators

• Draga Gregorič Rosenberg (1879–1965), a Slovenian preschool teacher and preschool principal, founder of first preschool in the Servola district of Trieste

Humanitarian workers

• Ivana Zorman (1836–1922), Slovenian headmistress of an orphanage and a humanitarian worker

Scholars, scientists, and intellectuals

• Luisa Accati (born 1942), historian and feminist theoretician.
• Florian Biesik (1849–1926), Silesian linguist, Wymysorys language scholar and poet.
• Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), Austrian physicist.
• Paolo Budinich (1916–2013), physicist.
• Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890), British explorer, geographer, writer, orientalist, cartographer, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat; discovered Lake Tanganyika.
• Lavo Čermelj (1889–1980), Slovene physicist and public intellectual.
• Giacomo Ciamician (1857–1922), chemist.
• Laura Dallapiccola (1911–1995), Italian librarian and translator.
• Gillo Dorfles (1910–2018), philosopher and historian.
• Arturo Falaschi (1933–2010), MD, geneticist.
• Alessandro Ferrara (born 1953), philosopher and author.
• Boris Furlan (1894–1957), Slovenian legal theorist, translator and politician.
• Anton Füster (1808–1881), Austrian revolutionary activist, author and pedagogue.
• Guido Goldschmiedt (1850–1915), Austrian chemist.
• Boris M. Gombač (born 1945), Slovenian historian.
• Spiridon Gopčević (1855–1928), Serbian astronomer and historian.
• Margherita Hack (1922–2013), Italian astronomer.
• Albert O. Hirschman (1915–2012), economist and political scientist; obtained his doctorate from the University of Trieste.
• Pietro Kandler (1804–1872), historian, archaeologist and jurist.
• Fiorella Kostoris (born 1945), economist.
• Doro Levi (1899–1991), archaeologist.
• Neli Niklsbacher Bregar (1912–1982), Slovenian embroiderer, ethnologist, and author.
• Salvatore Pincherle (1853–1936), Italian mathematician.
• Jože Pirjevec (born 1940), Slovene historian.
• Alessandro Pizzorno (1924–2019), political scientist and sociologist.
• Abdus Salam (1926–1996), Pakistani theoretical physicist, Nobel prize laureate.
• Denis Sciama (1926–1999), British physicist.
• Joseph Straus (born 1938), property law intellectual.
• Marta Verginella (born 1960), Slovene historian.
• Ivan Vidav (1918–2015), Slovene mathematician.
• Edoardo Weiss (1889–1970), Jewish psychoanalyst.
• Guido Weiss (1928–2021), mathematician.
• Sigismund Zois (1747–1819), Slovene mecenate and natural scientist.

Sportspeople

• Andrea de Adamich (born 1941), former Formula 1 driver.
• Nino Benvenuti (born 1938), boxer.
• Biaggio Chianese (born 1961), boxer.
• Claudia Coslovich (born 1972), athlete.
• Fabio Cudicini (1935–2025), football player, goalkeeper.
• Gabriele De Nuzzo (born 1999), football player
• Aldo Dorigo (1929–2025), football player.
• Giorgio Ferrini (1939–1976), football player.
• Ambrogio Fogar (1941–2005), sailor, rally driver, and adventurer.
• Livio Franceschini (1913–1975), basketball player.
• Sara Gama (born 1989), Italian footballer, defender and captain of both Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team.
• Sandro Gamba (born 1932), basketball coach and player.
• Matteo Gladig (1880–1915), chess master.
• Margherita Granbassi (born 1979), foil fencer.
• Duilio Loi (1929–2008), boxer.
• Cesare Maldini (1932–2016), former AC Milan captain, Italian football team manager.
• Giovanni Martinolich (1884–1910), chess master.
• Mauro Milanese (born 1971), football player.
• Mario Milano (1935–2016), professional wrestler.
• Tiberio Mitri (1926–2001), boxer.
• Uberto De Morpurgo (1896–1961), Austrian-born Italian tennis player.
• Giorgio Oberweger (1913–1998), athlete.
• Nicola Princivalli (born 1979), football player.
• Giovanni Raicevich (1881–1957), professional wrestler.
• Carlo Rigotti (1906–1983), football player.
• Nereo Rocco (1912–1979), football player and manager.
• Licio Rossetti (1925–1993), football player.
• Cesare Rubini (1923–2011), water polo player.
• Matteo Scozzarella (born 1988), football player.
• Giovanni Steffè (1928–2016), rower.
• Caterina Stenta (born 1987), Windsurf and Standup paddleboarding athlete.
• Max Tonetto (born 1974), football player.
• Fabio Tuiach (born 1980), boxer.
• Ferruccio Valcareggi (1919–2005), football player and coach.
• Renzo Vecchiato (born 1955), basketball player.

Statesmen and aristocracy

• Mathilde Bonaparte (1820–1904), Napoleon's niece, daughter of his brother Jérôme Bonaparte; born in Trieste in 1820.
• Joseph Fouché (1759–1820), duke of Otranto, spent his last 5 years exiled in Trieste.
• Maximilian of Habsburg (1832–1867), Emperor of Mexico, Archduke of Austria (Schönbrunn 1832 - Querétaro 1867); built the white castle and park on the riviera; planted plants in the park from his travels around the world.
• Fiorello La Guardia (1882–1947), 99th Mayor of New York City, son of Trieste-born Irene Coen, of the Luzzatto family. Spent part of his 20s in Trieste with his family, also working for the US Consulate.
• Princess Marie Adélaïde de France (1732–1800), Madame de France, daughter of King Louis XV of France, died in Trieste in 1800 and was buried at San Giusto Cathedral.
• Princess Marie Louise Thérèse Victoire de France (1733–1799), Madame de France, daughter of King Louis XV of France, died in Trieste in 1799.
• Manto Mavrogenous (1796–1848), Greek princess and heroine of the Greek War of Independence.
• Louis Antoine Debrauz de Saldapenna (1811–1871), Austrian diplomat, journalist and author.
• Gottfried von Banfield (1890–1986), top Austrian Empire fighter ace in World War I.
• Stefano Černetić (born 1960), journalist and royal pretender.

References

1. "Italo Svevo | Biography, Books and Facts". www.famousauthors.org. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
2. "BEYER, Donald Sternoff, Jr". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 4, 2025.