--- title: Elena Ferrante's Real Identity Claimed by Italian Journalist description: An Italian journalist has claimed that he has uncovered the true identity of international bestselling-novelist Elena Ferrante canonical: https://time.com/4516310/elena-ferrantes-identity/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-03T10:58:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:57:59.773Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Elena Ferrante's Real Identity Claimed by Italian Journalist og:description: An Italian journalist has claimed that he has uncovered the true identity of international bestselling-novelist Elena Ferrante og:url: https://time.com/4516310/elena-ferrantes-identity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37926b56d0c81a70/6988a85fe20a87aa2da92a03/image-20150903-24512-hf87ly2.jpg?branch=production&width=951&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 951 og:image:height: 535 og:image:alt: Elena Ferrante og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Elena Ferrante's Real Identity Claimed by Italian Journalist twitter:description: An Italian journalist has claimed that he has uncovered the true identity of international bestselling-novelist Elena Ferrante twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37926b56d0c81a70/6988a85fe20a87aa2da92a03/image-20150903-24512-hf87ly2.jpg?branch=production&width=951&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Who Is Elena Ferrante? 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fce44d5e-b415-42a8-9754-f5d3340c7aab&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Oct 3, 2016 10:58 AM UTC  Text Publishing by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Oct 3, 2016 10:58 AM UTC An Italian journalist claims to have uncovered the identity of the pseudonymous Italian novelist Elena Ferrante. In an [article](https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/10/02/elena-ferrante-an-answer/) for the _New York Review of Books_ published Sunday, journalist Claudio Gatti claims that Ferrante is the pen name of Anita Raja, a translator based in Rome. Gatti argues that “new revelations from real estate and financial records” confirm the identity of Raja, who has previously worked with Ferrante’s publishing house Edizione e/o. In [an accompanying article,](http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/10/02/story-behind-a-name-elena-ferrante/) Gatti reveals a deep investigation into the life of Raja, whose family had been victims of Jewish persecution in Germany and Italy in the Second World War. Raja did not respond to Gatti’s request for comment. Ferrante is best known for her successful quartet of [novels set in Naples](http://time.com/4010504/neapolitan-novels-history/?iid=sr-link5) in southern Italy, including the 2012 international bestseller _My Brilliant Friend_. This year, the author was also included in the [TIME 100](http://time.com/4299844/elena-ferrante-2016-time-100/?iid=sr-link1) list of the world’s most influential people. Numerous [previous attempts](http://time.com/4257446/elena-ferrante-identity-guess/?iid=sr-link6) to unveil the anonymous writer have been unsuccessful, and Gatti’s investigation has provoked fierce backlash from the literary world. Authors and literary critics such as Jojo Moyes and Pamela Paul have also tweeted criticizing the ‘unmasking’ of the author and defending her decision to remain anonymous. > [](https://twitter.com/jojomoyes/status/782663061173899266) > [](https://twitter.com/PamelaPaulNYT/status/782630268502962176) > [](https://twitter.com/ruth%5Ffranklin/status/782627314173616129) In a statement made to [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/02/elena-ferrante-literary-storm-as-italian-reporter-identifies-author), Sandro Ferri, Ferrante’s publisher said “We just think that this kind of journalism is disgusting.” \[[_NY Review of Books_](https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/10/02/elena-ferrante-an-answer/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4516310/elena-ferrantes-identity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4516310/elena-ferrantes-identity/"},"headline":"Who Is Elena Ferrante? 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