Silvana De Mari

Silvana De Mari (born 1953) is an Italian physician-turned-author best known for her children's and young adult fantasy novels, including L'ultimo elfo (The Last Dragon) and L'ultimo orco (The Last Ogre). Trained as a surgeon and later working as a psychotherapist in Turin, she began publishing children’s fiction in the early 2000s; her fantasy works have been translated into multiple languages and published internationally. In recent years she has been a controversial public figure in Italy for outspoken opinions on social and medical topics and has faced disciplinary and legal actions related to those statements.