The Intellectual Legacy of Primo Levi

Date: 

Thursday, November 14, 2019, 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Location: 

Lower Level Conference Room, Adolphus Busch Hall

The 2019 Gaetano Salvemini Colloquium in Italian History and Culture will focus on the figure and the intellectual legacy of Primo Levi. Following the discussion, all guests are invited to join the reception in the CES Atrium.

Primo Levi (1919-1987) is considered one of the greatest witnesses of the Jewish extermination and one of the most authoritative voices of the literature of the 20th century. As a chemist, Levi used the scientist's microscope lenses to investigate the darker sides of human action.

His works have been translated into more than 40 languages throughout the world, and he was also a poet, translator, artist, anthropologist, linguist, and ethologist.

Speakers:
Millicent Marcus
Professor of Italian, Yale University
David Ward
Professor of Italian Studies, Wellesley College

Chair:
Charles Maier
Leverett Saltonstall Research Professor of History, Harvard University; CES Resident Faculty & Director (1994-2001), Harvard University

About:
This annual lecture series is named in honor of the Italian anti-fascist historian Gaetano Salvemini, who spent much of his career as a professor in the Harvard department of history. This event is co-sponsored with the Consulate General of Italy in Boston and aims to foster a spirit of intellectual inquiry into Italian history within the Harvard community and beyond.

Sponsors:
- Gaetano Salvemini Colloquium in Italian History and Culture
- Consulate General of Italy in Boston