Franco Verdi (1934, Venice – 2009, Verona), born Giovanni Francesco Silvano Verdi of Belmont was an Italian poet, painter and essayist.

Verdi dedicated his artistic research to the use of words, visual and sound forms. He graduated in philosophy, literature, art and theology. In the late 1950s, he was a professor of theoretical philosophy at the University of Urbino.

Verdi created paintings, visual and concrete poetry, and linear poems. With Arrigo Lora Totino and Adriano Spatola, he organised the first exhibitions of concrete poetry in Italy (Castelfranco, Veneto, Trieste and Modena).

Some of his works include: Tempo (1966), Com'è necessario e nelle regole (1967), Quattro movimenti per un significato (1969), La voce degli astri (1973), La scimmia con le mani dietro la schiena (1976), Poesia concreta (1979), Poesia concreta Poesia visiva Scrittura poetica (1979) and others.