ANDREA VITALI
Writer
Andrea Vitali was born on 5 February 1956 in Bellano (province of Lecco), on the eastern shore of Lake Como, to Edvige Vergottini and Antonio Vitali, both municipal employees. He grew up here with his five siblings and still lives in Bellano with his wife, Manuela, and their son, Domenico.
After attending the notably strict “A. Manzoni” classical high school in Lecco, he set aside his interest in journalism to fulfil his father’s expectations and graduated with top marks in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan in 1982.
He worked as a general practitioner in Bellano for twenty-five years, until 2014, when he left medicine to devote himself entirely to writing.
He made his debut as a writer in 1989 with the novella Il procuratore, which won the 1990 Montblanc Prize for Young Novelists. The story was inspired by events recounted to him by his father.
In 1996, he won the Piero Chiara Literary Prize for L’ombra di Marinetti. His major breakthrough came in 2003 with Una finestra vistalago, which won the 2004 Grinzane Cavour Prize for fiction and the 2004 Bruno Gioffrè Prize.
In 2004, he also received the Dessì Prize for fiction for La signorina Tecla Manzi.
In 2006, he won the Bancarella Prize for La figlia del Podestà.
In 2008, he received the Boccaccio Prize for his entire body of fiction. For La modista, he won the Hemingway Prize and the Procida — Isola di Arturo — Elsa Morante Prize.
In 2009, his novel Almeno il cappello won the La Tore — Isola d’Elba Literary Prize and the Casanova Prize, and was shortlisted for both the Strega and Campiello Prizes.
In 2011, he won the Alda Merini International Literature Prize for Olive comprese. Further awards followed: the De Sica Prize in 2015, the Giovannino Guareschi Prize for literary humour in 2019, and the Recalmare Leonardo Sciascia Literary Prize in 2022.
In 2025, he won the 2025 Pontremoli Prize for his novel Eredi Piedivico e Famiglia.
The film and television rights to the novels featuring Marshal Maccadò were acquired by Alexandra Cinematografica and RAI, which produced the RAI 1 series Una finestra vista lago.
Since 2020, he has contributed to Il Fatto Quotidiano, and since 2023 he has been president of the organisation responsible for the Chiara Prize.
In 2026, RAI will broadcast the television series Una finestra vista lago, inspired by the books featuring Marshal Maccadò and set in Bellano.
