Primo Levi
| Primo Levi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
31 July 1919 Turin, Italy |
| Died | 11 April 1987 (aged 67) Turin, Italy |
| Pen name | Damiano Malabaila (used for some of his fictional works) |
| Occupation | Writer, chemist |
| Language | Italian |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Education | Degree in chemistry |
| Alma mater | University of Turin |
| Period | 1947–86 |
| Genre | Autobiography, short story, essay |
| Notable works | If This Is a Man |
| Spouse | Lucia Morpurgo (1920-2009) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Cesare Levi (father), Ester, known as Rina (mother), Anna Maria Levi (sister) |
Primo Michele Levi (Italian: [ˈpriːmo ˈlɛːvi]; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, novels, collections of short stories, essays, and poems. His best-known works include If This Is a Man (1947) (U.S.: Survival in Auschwitz), his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland; and his unique work, The Periodic Table (1975), linked to qualities of the elements, which the Royal Institution of Great Britain named the best science book ever written.
Levi died in 1987 from injuries sustained in a fall from a third-story apartment landing. While his death was officially ruled a suicide, some evidence supports the possibility that the fall was accidental.
Levi was born in 1919 in Turin, Italy, at Corso Re Umberto 75, into a liberal Jewish family. His father Cesare worked for the manufacturing firm Ganz and spent much of his time working abroad in Hungary, where Ganz was based. Cesare was an avid reader and autodidact. Levi's mother Ester, known to everyone as Rina, was well educated, having attended the Istituto Maria Letizia. She too was an avid reader, played the piano, and spoke fluent French. The marriage between Rina and Cesare had been arranged by Rina's father. On their wedding day, Rina's father, Cesare Luzzati, gave Rina the apartment at Corso Re Umberto, where Primo Levi lived for almost his entire life.
In 1921 Anna Maria, Levi's sister was born; he was to remain close to her all his life. In 1925 he entered the Felice Rignon primary school in Turin. A thin and delicate child, he was shy and thought he was ugly; he excelled academically. His school record includes long periods of absence during which time he was tutored at home, at first by Emilia Glauda and then by Marisa Zini, daughter of philosopher Zino Zini. The children spent summers with their mother in the Waldensian valleys southwest of Turin, where Rina rented a farmhouse. His father remained in the city, partly because of his dislike of the rural life, but also because of his infidelities.
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