Achille Campanile (Italian pronunciation: [aˈkille kam.paˈni.le]; 28 September 1899 – 4 January 1977) was an Italian writer, playwright, journalist and television critic known for his surreal humour and word play.

[2] Always a prolific contributor to newspapers and periodicals, Campanile wrote for the newspapers La Tribuna, L'Idea Nazionale and the satirical magazine Il Travaso delle idee.

In 1925 he published his first theatre work entitled L’inventore del cavallo which was a single-act play.

He had more popular success with novels such as Ma che cos'è questo amore?

Both his novels and plays show a passion for nonsense and linguistic ambiguity, although his surreal humour often disguises a strong critique of bourgeois mores.