Michele Ainis (Messina, 1955) is an Italian jurist, essayist, and writer, as well as professor emeritus of Public Law Institutions at the Roma Tre University. The author of numerous essays, he is a member of the steering committee of various legal journals and, in 2003, he was elected to the executive board of the Italian Association of Constitutionalists. A former member of the Italian Antitrust Authority from 2016 to 2023, he boasts an extensive career in journalism: after contributing to La Stampa (1998–2010) and Corriere della Sera (2011–2016), he currently serves as an op-ed columnist for the daily newspaper la Repubblica. Alongside a vast body of scientific work and popular essays such as La legge oscura (1997), Le libertà negate (2004), Chiesa padrona (2009), and L'assedio (2011), his publications also include works of fiction, beginning with the existential thriller Doppio riflesso (2012), followed by the novels Risa (2018) and Disordini (2021) – later collected in the omnibus volume Trilogia degli specchi (2022) – as well as his most recent novel, Controtempo (2026). His latest publications also feature the volumes Presidenti d'Italia (2022) and Capocrazia (2024); furthermore, his upcoming essay Fascismo bianco (Garzanti) is scheduled for release, in which Ainis once again examines the many warning signs signaling the rise of an authoritarian drift.