Andrea Camilleri

Andrea Camilleri was an Italian writer, screenwriter, director and playwright born on 6 September 1925 in Porto Empedocle, in the province of Agrigento. After attending classical high school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', but interrupted his studies due to World War II.

In 1949, he moved to Palermo, where he began working as a theatre and television director. In 1978 he published his first novel, 'Il corso delle cose', but his success did not come until the 1990s, with the series of crime novels set in Sicily and starring Commissioner Montalbano.

Thanks to the Inspector Montalbano series, Camilleri became one of the best-loved and best-selling Italian writers in the world, with millions of copies sold and numerous translations into different languages. Montalbano's novels were adapted for television into a successful series, starring the famous Italian actor Luca Zingaretti.

In addition to his work as a writer, Camilleri has also worked as a screenwriter and director, directing several films and plays. In 2003 he was awarded the Campiello Prize for Italian fiction, and in 2012 he was made Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Andrea Camilleri passed away on 17 July 2019, at the age of 93, but his literary and cultural legacy continues to be a source of inspiration for many readers and fans of detective stories and Italian literature.