Primo Levi (1919–1987) was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Turin, Italy. In 1944, after training as a chemist, Levi joined a group of antifascist partisans, was captured, and was deported to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He survived and returned to Turin in 1945, at which point he embarked on joint careers as an industrial chemist and an author, publishing the account of his experiences titled Se questo e un uomo (If this is a man) in 1947. The book, published in the United States as Survival in Auschwitz, is considered to be among the finest accounts of the death camps.

Primo Levi, 1919–1987. An Italian author and chemist, Levi was considered one of the foremost writers of concentration camp literature. (The Library of Congress.)

Levi retired from his work as a chemist in 1978 and fell to his death in his Turin apartment building on April 11, 1987. Debate continues about...