You're right! My diploma thesis was partly about him, and his novel "Il Piacere" was the underlying theme of my paper. He influenced Italian literature, history, politics and even language (he literally invented some of the words we use today - like 'tramezzino', 'fusoliera', 'velivolo', 'scudetto') more than anybody else, except maybe for Dante Alighieri. He was also incredibly full of himself. He was as smart and charismatic as he was irritating!