Ermanno Rea (28 July 1927 – 13 September 2016) was an Italian novelist, essayist and journalist.
Rea was born in Naples. During World War II, he was a partisan of the Garibaldi Brigade "Gino Menconi". After the war, he started working as a journalist for a number of publications including L'Unità, Panorama, Il Giorno and Tempo Illustrato.[1]
In 1996, Rea won the Viareggio Prize with the autobiographical novel Mistero napoletano; in 1999, he won the Campiello Prize with the novel Fuochi fiammanti a un'hora di notte.[1] In 2008, he was a finalist for the Strega Prize with the novel Napoli ferrovia.[1]
His 2002 novel La dismissione was adapted into a film, The Missing Star, directed by Gianni Amelio.[2] His 2016 novel Nostalgia was adapted into the 2022 film of the same title directed by Mario Martone.[3]
Rea died on 13 September 2016 at the age of 89.[4]