Origins & Early Life

Primo Michele Levi (Italian: [ˈpriːmo ˈlɛːvi]; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works include: If This Is a Man (Se questo è un uomo, 1947, published as Survival in Auschwitz in the United States), his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland; and The Periodic Table (1975), a collection of mostly autobiographical short stories, each named after a chemical element which plays a role in each story, which the Royal Institution named the best science book ever written. Levi died in 1987 from injuries sustained in a fall from a third-storey apartment landing.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His death was officially ruled a suicide, although that has been disputed by some of his friends and associates and attributed to an accident. Levi was born in 1919 in Turin, at Corso Re Umberto 75, into a liberal Jewish family. They were Piedmontese Jews whose ancestors came from Spain following the 1492 expulsion. His father, Cesare Levi (1878–1942), worked for the...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Akashi Motojiro — Contemporary (Died in 1919) (1919): General in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor-General of Taiwan.
• Andrew Carnegie — Contemporary (Died in 1919) (1919): Scottish-American industrialist who pioneered the American steel industry and became a major philanthropist.
• Beate Uhse-Rotermund — Contemporary (Born in 1919) (1919): Pioneering German pilot and influential founder of the modern sex shop industry.
• Aaron Carter — Contemporary (Born in 1987) (1987): American singer and rapper known for teen pop stardom and enduring musical career.
• Alexander Gustafsson — Contemporary (Born in 1987) (1987): Swedish mixed martial artist known for his elite Light Heavyweight contender status in the UFC.
• Alice Rahon — Contemporary (Died in 1987) (1987): French-born Mexican poet and painter whose work bridged surrealism and abstraction.
• Alan Parker — Shared historical date (07-31 · Died) (2020): Acclaimed English filmmaker known for genre versatility and numerous BAFTA and Golden Globe wins.
• Alessandro Algardi — Shared historical date (07-31 · Born) (1598): Master of High-Baroque Sculpture, renowned for his portrait busts in Rome.
• Anawrahta — Shared historical date (04-11 · Died) (1077): Founder of the Pagan Empire, unifying Upper Burma and establishing Burmese national identity.
• Andrew Wiles — Shared historical date (04-11 · Born) (1953): English mathematician renowned for proving Fermat's Last Theorem.
• 1919 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1919
• July 31 (07-31) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on July 31
• 1987 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1987
• April 11 (04-11) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on April 11