Federica Ranchi, born in Trieste on May 5, 1939, is an Italian actress whose career, though brief, left a significant mark on national cinema. She rose to prominence in 1959 with two leading roles: she played Virginia in the noir film *Un maledetto imbroglio*, directed by Pietro Germi, a performance that earned her the Grolla d'oro for Best New Actress, and she starred alongside Jean-Louis Trintignant in the romantic drama *Estate violenta*, directed by Valerio Zurlini. These successes established her as one of the promising young talents of Italian auteur cinema. In the following years, she appeared in other productions, including the peplum film *I cosacchi* (1960) and the spy film *La sfinge sorride prima di morire - stop - Londra* (1964). Her film career came to an abrupt end in the mid-1960s when she decided to retire from public life after her marriage, ending a career that was considered to have great potential.