Many famous authors were born and/or lived many years in Trieste. They include:

Italian-language authors edit

• Enzo Bettiza (1927–2017), writer and journalist, born in Split.
• Nicoletta Costa (born 1953), children's book writer and illustrator.
• Claudio Magris (born 1939), writer and essayist.
• Biagio Marin (1891–1985), poet (born in Grado).
• Giorgio Pressburger (1937–2017), author and director.
• Umberto Saba (1883–1957), poet.
• Francesco Saba Sardi (1922–2012), author, essayist and translator.
• Scipio Slataper (1888–1915), essayist.
• Giani Stuparich (1891–1961), writer and essayist.
• Italo Svevo (1861–1928), novelist.^[1]
• Susanna Tamaro (born 1957), novelist.
• Fulvio Tomizza (1935–1999), writer, born in Istria (now in Croatia).

Slovene-language authors edit

• Vladimir Bartol (1903–1967), writer.
• Igo Gruden (1893–1948), poet.
• Dušan Jelinčič (born 1953), writer, essayist, and mountain climber.
• Marica Nadlišek Bartol (1867–1940), writer and editor.
• Boris Pahor (1913–2022), novelist.
• Alojz Rebula (1924–2018), writer and essayist.

German-language authors edit

• Theodor Däubler (1876–1934), writer and poet.
• Robert Hamerling (1830–1889), writer.
• Ricarda Huch (1864–1947), writer.
• Julius Kugy (1858–1944), writer and essayist (born in Gorizia).
• Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), wrote Duino Elegies during his stay in Duino.

Authors in other languages edit

• Isabel Burton (1831–1896), English writer, explorer and adventurer.
• Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar, and soldier.
• James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic.
• D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.
• Charles Lever (1806–1872), Irish novelist and raconteur, whose novels, according to Anthony Trollope, were just like his conversation.
• Jan Morris (1926–2020), Welsh historian, author and travel writer.
• Stendhal (1783–1842), French author and essayist; served as Consul of France in Trieste.
• Alexander Wheelock Thayer (1817–1897), American librarian and journalist.
• Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.

• Emilio Ambrosini (1850–1912), architect.
• Milko Bambič (1905–1991), illustrator and cartoonist.
• Franca Batich (born 1940), Italian painter.
• Leo Castelli (1907–1999), pioneering gallerist and contemporary art dealer.
• Avgust Černigoj (1898–1985), painter.
• Bruno Chersicla (1937–2013), painter and sculptor.
• Tullio Crali (1910–2000), futurist painter.
• Marcello Dudovich (1878–1962), illustrator.
• Leonor Fini (1907–1996), artist.
• Giuseppe Lorenzo Gatteri (1829–1884), Italian painter.
• Isidoro Grünhut (1862–1896), artist.
• Alexander Kircher (1867–1939), painter.
• Franko Luin (1941–2005), Swedish-Slovene graphic designer.
• Argio Orell (1884–1942), painter.
• Boris Podrecca (born 1940), architect.
• Alessandra Querzola (born 1977), Oscar nominated set designer.
• Stanislav Rapotec (1913–1997), painter.
• Ruggero Rovan (1877–1965), sculptor.
• Felice Schiavoni (1803–1881), artist.
• Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909–1969), architect.
• Eugenio Scomparini (1845–1913), painter.
• Vito Timmel (1886–1949), painter.
• Jožef Tominc (1790–1866), Biedermeier painter.
• Antonio Valdoni (1834–1890), painter.
• Umberto Veruda (1868–1904), painter.
• Carlo Wostry (1865–1943), painter.

• Federico Agostini (born 1959), violinist.
• Alda Balestra (born 1954), fashion and beauty model.
• Antonio Bibalo (1922–2008), pianist and composer.
• Fedora Barbieri (1920-2003), Italian Mezzo-Soprano/Contralto opera singer.
• Piero Cappuccilli (1926–2005), operatic baritone.
• Antonio D'Antoni (1801–1859), opera composer and conductor.
• Raffaello de Banfield (1922–2008), British composer.
• George Dolenz (1908–1963), actor; father of Micky Dolenz of the Monkees.
• Hans Herbert Fiedler (1907–2004), opera stage actor.
• Fulvia Franco (1931–1988), Italian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder.
• Paul Henreid (1908–1992), actor.
• Alfred Jaëll (1832–1882), Austrian pianist.
• Tullio Kezich (1928–2009), actor, playwright, and screenplayer.
• Anita Kravos (born 1974), Italian actress.
• Paola Loew (1934–1999), actress.
• Paolo Longo (born 1967), composer and conductor.
• Alessandro Lotta (born 1975), former bassist of the bands Rhapsody of Fire and Wingdom.
• Lelio Luttazzi (1923–2010), musician, composer, showman and presenter.
• Mauro Maur (born 1958), trumpet player and composer.
• Alexander Moissi (1879–1935), Austrian stage actor of Albanian descent.
• Ave Ninchi (1914–1997), actress.
• Denis Novato (born 1976), Slovene musician.
• Loredana Nusciak (1942–2006), actress and model.
• Alberto Randegger (1832–1911), composer.
• Rodolfo Ranni (born 1937), Italian Argentine film actor.
• Ivan Rassimov (1938–2003), Italian actor of Serbian descent.
• Rada Rassimov (born 1941), Italian actress of Serbian descent.
• Enrico Rava (born 1939), jazz trumpeter.
• Teddy Reno (born 1926), singer and producer.
• Carlo Rizzo (1907–1979), stage and film actor.
• Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), conductor.
• Laura Solari (1913–1984), film actress.
• Alex Staropoli (born 1970), keyboardist of the band Rhapsody of Fire.
• Giorgio Strehler (1921–1997), opera and theater director.
• Elisa Toffoli (born 1977), singer/songwriter, pianist, and guitarist.
• Luca Turilli (born 1972), guitarist of the band Rhapsody of Fire.

• Lidia Bastianich (born 1947), Italian-American chef and TV cooking show host whose family lived in a refugee camp in Trieste after their escape from Istria, Yugoslavia (now Croatia).
• Bianca Maria Piccinino (born 1924), journalist RAI, the first woman to read a news broadcasting.

• Andrea Illy (born 1964), entrepreneur.
• Ernesto Illy (1925–2008), entrepreneur, founder of coffee empire.
• Francesco Illy (1892–1956), entrepreneur, inventor of coffee machinery.
• Lionello Stock (1866–1948), entrepreneur of liqueurs and beverages, founder of Stock S.p.A. (known for the Keglevich brand).
• Mihajlo Vučetić (1790–1882), grain merchant, shipowner and shareholder in Austrian Lloyd.

• Renato Balestra (1924–2022), fashion designer.
• Adriano Goldschmied (born 1944), leading international denim designer; founder of Diesel and Replay jeans.
• Ottavio Missoni (1921–2013), fashion designer.
• Mila Schön (1916–2008), fashion designer.

• Sergio Amidei (1904–1981), screenwriter.
• Giovanna Botteri (born 1957), journalist.
• Almerigo Grilz (1953–1987), journalist, freelance war reporter and politician. Was killed during an African reportage.
• Leo Negrelli (born in Trieste, died in Spain in 1974), journalist.
• Ann Shulgin (1931–2022), author.
• Demetrio Volcic (1931–2021), journalist and politician.

• Engelbert Besednjak (1894–1968), Slovene politician.
• Willer Bordon (1949–2015), Italian politician, Minister of the Environment, 2000-2001.
• Gualtiero Driussi (1920–1996), Italian politician
• Josip Ferfolja (1880–1958), Slovenian social-democratic politician and human rights activist.
• Odilo Globočnik (1904–1945), Nazi war criminal, SS leader.
• Riccardo Illy (born 1955), Italian politician.
• Ezio Mizzan (1905–1969), Italian diplomat, the second Italian Ambassador to Thailand (1959–1965) and the ninth Italian Ambassador to Pakistan (1966–1969).
• Ilda Mizzan (1885–1922), Italian irredentist and painter, wife of Francesco Salata.
• Stefano Patuanelli (born 1974), Italian politician, minister of economic development.
• Mitja Ribičič (1919–2013), Slovenian Communist leader, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (1969–1971).
• Vittorio Vidali (aka Enea Sormenti, Jacobo Hurwitz Zender, Carlos Contreras) (1900–1983), Communist agent.
• Josip Wilfan (1878–1955), Slovene jurist, politician, and human rights activist.

• Pietro Bonomo (1458–1546), humanist and bishop, supporter of the Protestant Reformation.
• Moisè Tedeschi (1821–1898), rabbi and Bible commentator.

• Luisa Accati (born 1942), historian and feminist theoretician.
• Florian Biesik (1849–1926), Silesian linguist, Wymysorys language scholar and poet.
• Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), Austrian physicist.
• Paolo Budinich (1916–2013), physicist.
• Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890), British explorer, geographer, writer, orientalist, cartographer, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat; discovered Lake Tanganyika.
• Lavo Čermelj (1889–1980), Slovene physicist and public intellectual.
• Giacomo Ciamician (1857–1922), chemist.
• Laura Dallapiccola (1911–1995), Italian librarian and translator.
• Gillo Dorfles (1910–2018), philosopher and historian.
• Arturo Falaschi (1933–2010), MD, geneticist.
• Alessandro Ferrara (born 1953), philosopher and author.
• Boris Furlan (1894–1957), Slovenian legal theorist, translator and politician.
• Anton Füster (1808–1881), Austrian revolutionary activist, author and pedagogue.
• Guido Goldschmiedt (1850–1915), Austrian chemist.
• Boris M. Gombač (born 1945), Slovenian historian.
• Spiridon Gopčević (1855–1928), Serbian astronomer and historian.
• Margherita Hack (1922–2013), Italian astronomer.
• Albert O. Hirschman (1915–2012), economist and political scientist; obtained his doctorate from the University of Trieste.
• Pietro Kandler (1804–1872), historian, archaeologist and jurist.
• Fiorella Kostoris (born 1945), economist.
• Doro Levi (1899–1991), archaeologist.
• Salvatore Pincherle (1853–1936), Italian mathematician.
• Jože Pirjevec (born 1940), Slovene historian.
• Alessandro Pizzorno (1924–2019), Political Scientist and Sociologist.
• Abdus Salam (1926–1996), Pakistani theoretical physicist, Nobel prize laureate.
• Denis Sciama (1926–1999), British physicist.
• Joseph Straus (born 1938), property law intellectual.
• Marta Verginella (born 1960), Slovene historian.
• Ivan Vidav (1918–2015), Slovene mathematician.
• Edoardo Weiss (1889-1970), Jewish psychoanalyst.
• Guido Weiss (1928–2021), mathematician.
• Sigismund Zois (1747–1819), Slovene mecenate and natural scientist.

• Andrea de Adamich (born 1941), former Formula 1 driver.
• Nino Benvenuti (born 1938), boxer.
• Biaggio Chianese (born 1961), boxer.
• Claudia Coslovich (born 1972), athlete.
• Fabio Cudicini (born 1935), football player (goalkeeper).
• Aldo Dorigo (born 1929), football player.
• Giorgio Ferrini (1939–1976), football player.
• Ambrogio Fogar (1941–2005), sailor, rally driver, and adventurer.
• Livio Franceschini (1913–1975), basketball player.
• Sara Gama (born 1989), Italian footballer, defender and captain of both Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team.
• Sandro Gamba (born 1932), basketball coach and player.
• Matteo Gladig (1880–1915), chess master.
• Margherita Granbassi (born 1979), foil fencer.
• Duilio Loi (1929–2008), boxer.
• Cesare Maldini (1932–2016), former AC Milan captain, Italian football team manager.
• Giovanni Martinolich (1884–1910), chess master.
• Mauro Milanese (born 1971), football player.
• Mario Milano (1935–2016), professional wrestler.
• Tiberio Mitri (1926–2001), boxer.
• Uberto De Morpurgo (1896–1961), Austrian-born Italian tennis player.
• Giorgio Oberweger (1913–1998), athlete.
• Nicola Princivalli (born 1979), football player.
• Giovanni Raicevich (1881–1957), professional wrestler.
• Carlo Rigotti (1906–1983), football player.
• Nereo Rocco (1912–1979), football player and manager.
• Licio Rossetti (1925–1993), football player.
• Cesare Rubini (1923–2011), water polo player.
• Matteo Scozzarella (born 1988), football player.
• Giovanni Steffè (1928–2016), rower.
• Caterina Stenta (born 1987), Windsurf and Standup paddleboarding athlete.
• Max Tonetto (born 1974), football player.
• Fabio Tuiach (born 1980), boxer.
• Ferruccio Valcareggi (1919–2005), football player and coach.
• Renzo Vecchiato (born 1955), basketball player.

• Mathilde Bonaparte (1820–1904), Napoleon's niece, daughter of his brother Jérôme Bonaparte; born in Trieste in 1820.
• Joseph Fouché (1759–1820), duke of Otranto, spent his last 5 years exiled in Trieste.
• Maximilian of Habsburg (1832–1867), Emperor of Mexico, Archduke of Austria (Schönbrunn 1832 - Querétaro 1867); built the white castle and park on the riviera; planted plants in the park from his travels around the world.
• Fiorello La Guardia (1882–1947), 99th Mayor of New York City, son of Trieste-born Irene Coen, of the Luzzatto family. Spent part of his 20s in Trieste with his family, also working for the US Consulate.
• Princess Marie Adélaïde de France (1732–1800), Madame de France, daughter of King Louis XV of France, died in Trieste in 1800 and was buried at San Giusto Cathedral.
• Princess Marie Louise Thérèse Victoire de France (1733–1799), Madame de France, daughter of King Louis XV of France, died in Trieste in 1799.
• Manto Mavrogenous (1796–1848), Greek princess and heroine of the Greek War of Independence.
• Louis Antoine Debrauz de Saldapenna (1811–1871), Austrian diplomat, journalist and author.
• Gottfried von Banfield (1890–1986), top Austrian Empire fighter ace in World War I.
• Stefano Černetić (born 1960), journalist and royal pretender