Ermanno Rea (28 July 1927 – 13 September 2016) was an Italian novelist, essayist and journalist.

Born in Naples, during World War II he was a partisan in the Garibaldi Brigade "Gino Menconi". After the war, he started working as a journalist, writing for L'Unità, Panorama, Il Giorno and Tempo Illustrato.

In 1996, he won the Viareggio Prize with the autobiographical novel Mistero napoletano; in 1999, he won the Campiello Prize with Fuochi fiammanti a un'hora di notte. In 2008, he was a finalist for the Strega Prize with Napoli ferrovia. His 2002 novel La dismissione was adapted into a film, The Missing Star, directed by Gianni Amelio. His 2016 novel Nostalgia was adapted into a 2022 film of the same title directed by Mario Martone.