Diego Marani (born 1959 in Ferrara) is an Italian novelist, translator, and newspaper columnist. In 1996, while working as a translator for the Council of the European Union, he invented Europanto, a mock international auxiliary language.[1] Marani has published different articles, short stories and video clips in Europanto. Marani now works in the Multilingualism Policy Unit of the European Commission.[2]
Diego Marani is also an essayist and novelist.[3] His most famous novel, Nuova grammatica finlandese (New Finnish Grammar), is translated in several languages and has received the Grinzane Cavour literary prize in Italy. His other novels include L'ultimo dei Vostiach (The Last of the Vostiaks), L'interprete, Il Compagno di scuola, and Enciclopedia tresigallese. As an essayist, Diego Marani wrote A Trieste con Svevo and Come ho imparato le lingue. His last book, La bicicletta incantata, was made into a movie by Elisabetta Sgarbi, editor in chief of Bompiani publishing house and art producer. Diego Marani regularly writes for the cultural page of the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.