Pagine1919–1987 · Turin, Italy · also known as Levi
Primo Levi was a Jewish chemist from Turin who joined the anti-fascist resistance, was captured and deported to Auschwitz in 1944. If This Is a Man (1947; in the US, Survival in Auschwitz) is one of the most important testimonies of the Holocaust. The Truce describes his long journey home, and The Periodic Table (1975), with a chapter named after each element, was once named the best science book ever written.
Begin with If This Is a Man.
Part of our Italian Classics reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Dante Alighieri · Petrarch · Giovanni Boccaccio · Niccolò Machiavelli · Alessandro Manzoni · Carlo Collodi · Luigi Pirandello · Italo Calvino
Primo Levi was a Jewish chemist from Turin who joined the anti-fascist resistance, was captured and deported to Auschwitz in 1944. If This Is a Man (1947; in the US, Survival in Auschwitz) is one of the most important testimonies of the Holocaust.
If This Is a Man is usually considered Primo Levi’s best-known work, followed by The Periodic Table, The Truce.
Most readers start with If This Is a Man.
Both refer to the same writer.
Primo Levi’s books are still under copyright, so they are not free to download, but many can be borrowed free from your public library or Open Library — we link to them below.