NEWS Committee for Primo Levi’s Birth Centenary: Dario Disegni Appointed President

By Pagine Ebraiche staff*

The National Committee for the celebrations of Primo Levi’s birth Centenary officially took office last week.

Dario Disegni, president of the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah, of the Jewish Community of Turin and of the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy, will preside, as announced by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in Rome in the presence of the undersecretary Lucia Borgonzoni.

The program includes many initiatives in Italy and abroad in order to spread and encourage the civic and moral lesson propelled by Primo Levi, “whose unlimited teaching represents, today more than ever, a fundamental benchmark for our society”, Disegni observed.

He will preside over a committee composed by highly respected experts. Among them are Alberto Cavaglion, professor of Jewish History at the University of Florence, Fabio Levi, director of the International Primo Levi Studies Centre, Robert Gordon, scholar of Italian studies, historians Marco Belpoliti and Anna Bravo, senator for life Liliana Segre and Primo Levi’s son, Renzo. The accountant Mario Montalcini will be secretary and treasurer.

Here is the complete list of the Committee’s members:

Dario Disegni – President
President of the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah, of the Jewish Community of Turin and of the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy

Mario Montalcini – Secretary and treasurer
accountant based in Turin

Angela Agostiano
full professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Bari and President of the Italian Chemical Society

Walter Barberis
full professor of Modern history at the University of Turin

Marco Belpoliti
full professor of Literary Criticism and of Literatures and Visual Cultures at the University of Bergamo

Anna Bravo
former professor of Social History at the University of Turin

Alberto Cavaglion
professor of Jewish History at the University of Turin

Nathalie Dollez
psychologist at the Primo Levi Centre in Paris

Ernesto Ferrero
writer

Robert S.G. Gordon
full professor at the University of Cambridge

Paolo Grossi
Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels

Fabio Levi
full professor of Contemporary history at the University of Turin

Renzo Levi
Primo Levi’s son and professor of Physiology at the University of Turin

Liliana Segre
Senator for life

*Translated by Claudia Azzalini, student at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University, intern at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.