List of personalities of the city of Ferrara

This list contains Ferrara -born personalities as well as those who have worked in Ferrara, but were doing elsewhere born. The list does not claim to be complete.

Personalities born in Ferrara

Until 1500

Tito Vespasiano Strozzi (1425-1505), humanist
Cosmè Tura (around 1430 - 1495), painter
Ercole I. d'Este (1431–1505), Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (1471–1505)
Francesco del Cossa (around 1435-1477), painter
Francesco Bianchi (1447–1510), painter
Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Dominican and penitential preacher
Domenico Maria da Novara (1454–1504), mathematician and astronomer
Lorenzo Costa the Elder (1460–1535), painter
Johannes Manardus (1462–1536), doctor
Antonio Tebaldeo (1463–1537), poet
Boccaccio Boccaccino (around 1467 - 1524), painter
Isabella d'Este (1474–1539), cultural figure
Alfonso I d'Este (1476–1534), Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (1505–1534)
Ludovico Mazzolino (around 1478 -?), Painter
Celio Calcagnini (1479–1541), Italian humanist
Ippolito I. d'Este (1479–1520), Cardinal, Archbishop of Milan (1497–1520)
Lilius Gregorius Giraldus (1479–1552), scholar, mythographer and poet
Michele Coltellini (around 1480-1543), painter
Dosso Dossi (around 1480/90 - 1542), painter
Benvenuto Tisi Garofalo (1481–1559), painter
Camillo Filippi (around 1500 - 1574), painter

1501 to 1800

Giambattista Giraldi (1504–1573), poet, writer, philosopher and physician
Ercole II. D'Este (1508–1559), Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (1534–1559)
Ippolito II. D'Este (1509–1572), cardinal, archbishop of Milan (1520–50 and 1558–59)
Immanuel Tremellius (1510–1580), exile and Reformed theologian
Giovanni Battista Canano (1515–1579), anatomist, city doctor, priest and papal personal physician, with Amato Lusitano discoverer of the venous valves of the azygos vein

Eleonora d'Este (1515–1575), Princess of Ferrara, nun

Olympia Fulvia Morata (1526–1555), poet, humanist

Anna d'Este (1531–1607), Princess of Ferrara, through marriages Duchess of Guise and Nemours etc.

Sebastiano Filippi called Bastianino (around 1532–1602), painter

Alfonso II. D'Este (1533–1597), Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (1559–97)

Lodovico Agostini (1534–1590), composer, singer, priest and teacher

Giuseppe Mazzuoli , called Bastarolo (around 1536 - 1589), painter

Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538–1612), poet

Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1544 / 55–1607), composer, organist, “Capo di Concerti” at court

Aemilius Portus (1550–1614 / 15), philologist and university professor

Ippolito Scarsella, called Scarsellino (1550 / 51–1620), painter

Ercole Pasquini (2nd half of the 16th century - before 1620), organist and composer

Vittoria Raffaella Aleotti (1575 - after 1645), composer, organist and prioress in San Vito

Guido Bentivoglio (1579–1644), cardinal, historian and politician

Giovanni Battista Deti (1580–1630), cardinal to the curia and bishop

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643), composer and organist

Carlo Emmanuele Pio di Savoia (1585-1641), cardinal

Alfonso III. d'Este (1591–1644), Duke of Modena and Reggio (1628/29), then Capuchin

Giovanni Riccioli (1598–1671), priest and astronomer

Giacomo Corradi (1602–1666), bishop and cardinal

Carlo Pio di Savoia the Younger (1622–1689), Bishop of Ferrara, cardinal

Giuseppe Lanzoni (1663–1730), first doctor in Ferrara and member of the " Leopoldina " academy of scholars

Cornelio Bentivoglio (1668–1732), Cardinal to the Curia

Girolamo Baruffaldi (1675–1755), clergyman, historian and poet

Isaak Lampronti (1679–1756), rabbi and Jewish scholar

Guido Calcagnini (1725–1807), cardinal of the Catholic Church

Francesca Gabrieli (around 1755 -?), Opera singer

Luigi Rinaldo Legnani (1790–1877), singer, guitarist and composer

Fidèle Sutter (1796–1883), Titular Archbishop of Ancyra

1801 to 1900

Temistocle Solera (1815–1878), poet and librettist
Giovanni Boldini (1842–1931), Italian-French painter
Gaetano Previati (1852–1920), painter
Vittorio Cini (1885–1977), major entrepreneur
Enrica Calabresi (1891–1944), zoologist and professor of agricultural entomology
Italo Balbo (1896–1940), Air Force Minister and Air Marshal
Ulderico Fabbri (1897–1970), sculptor

From 1901

Cesare Luporini (1909–1993), philosopher, literary critic and politician
Michelangelo Antonioni (1912–2007), film director, author and painter
Antonio Battistella (1912–1980), actor
Anacleto Angelini (1914–2007), Italian-Chilean entrepreneur
Giorgio Bassani (1916–2000), writer, poet, novelist
Albert Marvelli (1918–1946), politician
Florestano Vancini (1926–2008), film director
Folco Quilici (1930–2018), documentary filmmaker and author
Massimo Felisatti (1932–2016), novelist, screenwriter and translator
Giampaolo Calanchini (1937-2007), saber fencer
Giorgio Merighi (1939-2020), opera tenor
Giorgio Ariani (1941–2016), comedian and actor
Franco Rest (* 1942), German death benefit and ethics researcher
Ares Tavolazzi (* 1948), fusion and jazz musician
Michele De Lucchi (* 1951), designer and architect
Vittorio Sgarbi (* 1952), art critic, curator, cultural commentator and politician
Michele Ferrari (* 1953), sports doctor
Dario Franceschini (* 1958), politician and author
Giorgio Ascanelli (* 1959), engineer
Diego Marani (* 1959), translator and reviser
Giulio Alvise Caselli (* 1979), German-Italian opera singer
Michele Maccanti (* 1979), racing cyclist

Well-known residents of Ferrara

Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613), composer
Diego José Abad (1727–1779), Jesuit, writer, educator and humanist
Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), painter and graphic artist