Franco Volpi (b. 1952 d. 2009) taught History of Philosophy at Padua University. For many years he was professor at the University of Witten/Herdecke, as well as in other European and American universities. He wrote articles for the cultural pages of Italian daily “La Repubblica”. His recent publications, in addition to the popular editions of Schopenhauer and Heidegger, include: Groβes Werklexikon der Philosophie (2 volumes, Stuttgart 1999); Dictionary of Philosophical Works (Milan 2000); The God of the Acids (with A. Gnoli, Milan 2003).