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The Italian 100:
a Ranking of the Most Influential, Cultural, Scientific, and Political Figures, Past and Present


The list below is from the book The Italian 100: a Ranking of the Most Influential, Cultural, Scientific, and Political Figures, Past and Present, Citadel Press (1998), written by Stephen J. Spignesi.

1 Galileo Galilei Catholic
2 Christopher Columbus Catholic
3 Guglielmo Marconi Catholic and Anglican
4 Enrico Fermi Catholic
5 Alessandro Volta Catholic
6 Leonardo Fibonacci  
7 Evangelista Torricelli Catholic
8 Filippo Mazzei  
9 Michelangelo Catholic
10 Leonardo da Vinci Catholic
11 Giovanni Battista Morgagni  
12 Gabriel Fallopius  
13 Girolamo Fabrizio  
14 Marcello Malpighi Catholic
15 Girolamo Fracastoro Catholic
16 Lazzaro Spallanzani  
17 Camillo Golgi  
18 Luigi Porta  
19 Salvador Edward Luria  
20 Rita Levi-Montalcini  
21 Renato Dulbecco  
22 Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini  
23 Gasparo Tagliacozzi  
24 Ascanio Sobrero  
25 Francesco Redi Catholic
26 Girolamo Cardano Catholic
27 Francesco Bonaventura Cavalieri Catholic
28 Amedeo Avogadro and Stanislao Cannizzaro Catholic
29 St. Fabiola  
30 Luigi Galvani  
31 Francesco Maria Grimaldi Catholic
32 Niccolo Tartaglia Catholic
33 Andrea Cesalpino Catholic
34 The Medicis Catholic
35 Guido of Arezzo  
36 Aldo Manuzio the Elder and Aldo Manuzio the Younger  
37 St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic
38 Dante Alighieri Catholic
39 Niccolo Machiavelli Catholic
40 St. Francis of Assisi Catholic
41 Giuseppe Mazzini  
42 Benito Mussolini Catholic
43 Amerigo Vespucci Catholic
44 Marco Polo Catholic
45 John Cabot Catholic
46 Giovanni da Verrazano  
47 Bartolommeo Cristofori  
48 Alessandro Manzoni Catholic
49 Giuseppe Verdi Catholic
50 Giovanni Boccaccio Catholic
51 Filippo Brunelleschi  
52 Leon Battista Alberti  
53 Maria Montessori Catholic
54 Boethius  
55 Petrarch Catholic
56 Giulio Caccini  
57 Claudio Monteverdi Catholic
58 Gioacchino Rossini Catholic
59 Cimabue Catholic
60 The Bellinis Catholic
61 Giorgione Catholic
62 Giorgio Vasari Catholic
63 Raphael Catholic
64 Sandro Botticelli Catholic
65 Donatello Catholic
66 Masaccio Catholic
67 Benvenuto Cellini Catholic
68 Giotto Catholic
69 Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti Catholic
70 Antonio Vivaldi Catholic
71 Titian Catholic
72 Antonio Stradivari Catholic
73 Giacomo Puccini Catholic
74 Federico Fellini Catholic; astrology; Jungian
75 A.P. Giannini Catholic
76 Giuseppe Garibaldi Catholic
77 Charles "Lucky" Luciano Catholic
78 Lee Iacocca Catholic
79 Arturo Toscanini Catholic
80 Gaetano Donizetti Catholic
81 Enrico Caruso Catholic
82 Niccolo Paganini  
83 Al "Scarface" Capone Catholic
84 Frank Sinatra Catholic
85 Martin Scorsese Catholic (lapsed former seminarian)
86 Francis Ford Coppola Catholic (non-practicing
87 Italo Calvino Waldensian Protestant (lapsed)
88 Luciano Pavarotti Catholic
89 Robert De Niro and Al Pacino Catholic (non-practicing); Catholic
90 Joe DiMaggio Catholic
91 Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti  
92 Bernardo Bertolucci Catholic (lapsed)
93 Vittorio De Sica Catholic
94 Luchino Visconti  
95 Marcello Mastroianni Catholic
96 Sophia Loren Catholic (nominal)
97 Camille Paglia Catholic
98 Franco Zeffirelli  
99 Frank Capra Catholic; Christian Science
100 Madonna Catholic; Kabbalah

Webpage created 3 November 2005. Last modified 19 December 2005.
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