Ernesto Ferrero (6 May 1938 – 31 October 2023) was an Italian writer, literary critic and translator.

Born in Turin, in 1963 Ferrero started his career as a press officer for the Einaudi publishing house.

[1] He made his literary debut with a dictionary of Italian slang (I gerghi del male dal ’400 a oggi, 1972),[1] which won the Viareggio Prize for First Work.

[2] 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.

[1][2][3] His 2011 biographical novel about Emilio Salgari Disegnare il vento ("Drawing the Wind") won the Premio Selezione Campiello.