Cesare Sterbini was an Italian writer and librettist.

Possessing a deep knowledge of classical and contemporary culture, philosophy, linguistics, he was fluent in Greek, Latin, Italian, French and German. He is best known as the librettist for two operas by Gioacchino Rossini: Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816). An official in the Pontifical Administration, he also set poetry to music as an amateur. He wrote the libretto to the opera Il Contraccambio to the music of Giacomo Cordella in 1819, and the opera Isaura and Ricciardo to the music of Francesco Basili in 1820.

He died in Rome on 19 January 1831.