John Hooper

John Edward Francis Hooper (born 17 July 1950) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. He is the Italy and Vatican correspondent of The Economist.

Early life Born in Westminster, London, he is the son of the artist and writer William John ('Bill') Hooper ("Raff") (1916–1996). Hooper was educated at St Benedict's School in London and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In his first year at university, he travelled to the breakaway state of Biafra to help make a television documentary on the Nigerian Civil War.

Career After graduating, Hooper worked for the BBC as a current affairs reporter. In 1973, he became Diplomatic Correspondent of the then newly established Independent Radio News. The following year he moved to Cyprus following the Turkish invasion of the island as a freelance correspondent for news organisations including the BBC, The Guardian and The Economist.

In 1976, after the death of Spain's dictator, Francisco Franco, Hooper was asked by The Guardian to become its correspondent in Madrid. Over the next three years, he covered the Spanish transition to democracy. He returned to Madrid as correspondent for The Observer, Guardian and Economist in 1988, remaining until 1994. In 2015, Hooper published The Italians, a portrait of the Italian people and their culture.

His latest work, with Anna Kraczyna, is an annotated translation of Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio published by Penguin Classics. Between 2016 and 2022, Hooper lectured on contemporary Italian history at Stanford University's campus in Florence. In 2021, he was made an honorary fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Hooper was the script consultant for the film Posso Entrare, directed by Trudie Styler and released in 2023.