Italo Calvino (, ; ; 15 October 1923 - 19 September 1985) was an Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If on a winter's night a traveler (1979).

Admired in Britain, Australia and the United States, Calvino was the most translated