WRITER

Tiziano Terzani

1938 - 2004

Photo of Tiziano Terzani

Icon of person Tiziano Terzani

Tiziano Terzani (Italian: [titˈtsjaːno terˈtsaːni]; 14 September 1938 – 28 July 2004) was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon to the hands of the Viet Cong and the fall of Phnom Penh at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Tiziano Terzani has received more than 182,187 page views. His biography is available in 18 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 17 in 2019). Tiziano Terzani is the 3,193rd most popular writer (down from 3,127th in 2019), the 2,810th most popular biography from Italy (down from 2,676th in 2019) and the 188th most popular Italian Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 180k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 52.40

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 18

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.61

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.10

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Un altro giro di giostra
2004
Behind the forbidden door
1986
A Fortune-Teller Told Me
Biography & Autobiography
Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani — a vastly experienced Asia correspondent — took what he called “the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn.” Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Geography expanded under his feet. He consulted soothsayers, sorcerers, and shamans and received much advice — some wise, some otherwise — about his future. With time to think, he learned to understand, respect, and fear for older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. He rediscovered a place he had been reporting on for decades. And it reinvigorated him. The result is an immensely engaging, insightful, and idiosyncratic journey, filled with unexpected delights and strange encounters. A bestseller and major prizewinner in Italy, A Fortune-Teller Told Me is a powerful warning against the new missionaries of materialism. From the Hardcover edition.
19984 / 5
Goodnight, Mister Lenin
History
1993
Giai phong!
History
1976
Lettere contro la guerra
2002
Behind the forbidden door
Social conditions, Travel, Description and travel
1986
A Fortune-Teller Told Me
Travel, Fortune-telling, Description and travel
Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani -- a vastly experienced Asia correspondent -- took what he called "the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn."Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Geography expanded under his feet. He consulted soothsayers, sorcerers, and shamans and received much advice -- some wise, some otherwise -- about his future. With time to think, he learned to understand, respect, and fear for older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. He rediscovered a place he had been reporting on for decades. And it reinvigorated him. The result is an immensely engaging, insightful, and idiosyncratic journey, filled with unexpected delights and strange encounters. A bestseller and major prizewinner in Italy, A Fortune-Teller Told Me is a powerful warning against the new missionaries of materialism.From the Hardcover edition.
1998
Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon
1977
Un altro giro di giostra
Biography, Journalists, Medicine, Oriental
2004
Giai phong!
History, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975, Saigon
1976
La fine è il mio inizio
Interviews, Journalists, Tiziano Terzani
2006
A Fortune-Teller Told Me
Travel, Fortune-telling, Description and travel
Warned by a Hong Kong fortune-teller not to risk flying for a whole year, Tiziano Terzani -- a vastly experienced Asia correspondent -- took what he called "the first step into an unknown world. . . . It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary years I have ever spent: I was marked for death, and instead I was reborn."Traveling by foot, boat, bus, car, and train, he visited Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Geography expanded under his feet. He consulted soothsayers, sorcerers, and shamans and received much advice -- some wise, some otherwise -- about his future. With time to think, he learned to understand, respect, and fear for older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity. He rediscovered a place he had been reporting on for decades. And it reinvigorated him. The result is an immensely engaging, insightful, and idiosyncratic journey, filled with unexpected delights and strange encounters. A bestseller and major prizewinner in Italy, A Fortune-Teller Told Me is a powerful warning against the new missionaries of materialism.From the Hardcover edition.
1998
Un altro giro di giostra
Biography, Journalists, Medicine, Oriental
2004
Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon
1977
Behind the forbidden door
Social conditions, Travel, Description and travel
1986
La fine è il mio inizio
Interviews, Journalists, Tiziano Terzani
2006
Giai phong!
History, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975, Saigon
1976

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Tiziano Terzani ranks 3,193 out of 7,302. Before him are Vladislav Vančura, Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde, Ildefonso Falcones, Naoya Shiga, Stefanie Zweig, and Sigurd Hoel. After him are C. S. Forester, Anne Tyler, José Giovanni, Jiří Dienstbier, Mihály Babits, and Ruben Sevak.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1938, Tiziano Terzani ranks 233. Before him are Theodor Kallifatides, Roger Hunt, Jean Rollin, Anatoly Marchenko, Pachín, and Imre Földi. After him are Princess Anne, Duchess of Calabria, Moshe Safdie, Masakatsu Miyamoto, Boris Mikhailov, Richard Anthony, and Pascale Petit. Among people deceased in 2004, Tiziano Terzani ranks 135. Before him are Fred Lawrence Whipple, Jozef Lenárt, Maxime Rodinson, Orvar Bergmark, James Quinn, and Ota Šik. After him are José Giovanni, Cem Karaca, Hubert Selby Jr., Juan Zambudio Velasco, Piero Piccioni, and Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.

Others Born in 1938

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Others Deceased in 2004

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In Italy

Among people born in Italy, Tiziano Terzani ranks 2,810 out of 5,161. Before him are Sandro Salvadore (1939), Bartolo di Fredi (1330), Alberto Gilardino (1982), Bartolomeo Carducci (1554), Giovanni Poleni (1683), and Giovanni Pastrone (1883). After him are Salvatore Sciarrino (1947), Appius Claudius Pulcher (-130), Domenico Montagnana (1686), Roberto De Zerbi (1979), Giovanni Battista Giraldi (1504), and Franciabigio (1484).

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Among WRITERS In Italy

Among writers born in Italy, Tiziano Terzani ranks 188. Before him are Susanna Tamaro (1957), Luigi Alamanni (1495), Salimbene di Adam (1221), Erri De Luca (1950), Mario Soldati (1906), and Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824). After him are Giovanni Battista Giraldi (1504), Roberto Calasso (1941), Antonio Beccadelli (1394), Giosafat Barbaro (1413), Ennio Flaiano (1910), and Julius Obsequens (400).

Italian born Writers

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