Leone Ginzburg (1909–1944)

Leone Ginzburg, born into a Russian Jewish family in Odessa that settled in Italy, taught Slavic Languages and Russian Literature at the University of Turin. Through his writings and translations, he helped introduce Russian authors to the Italian public. In 1933, he co-founded the publishing house Einaudi. Prof. Ginzburg lost his teaching position in 1934 because he refused to swear the required oath of allegiance to Mussolini's Fascist government. He became a leader in the anti-fascist movement. In 1938 he married writer Natalia Levi, with whom he had three children. As Jews and anti-fascists, the couple were punished with internal exile in the Abruzzi region. After the Allied invasion of Italy, the Ginzburgs secretly went to Rome to continue their underground resistance activities. Leone Ginzburg was arrested there by the Italian police and executed by the Nazis. His posthumous publications included Lettere dal confino: 1940-1943 (Letters from Confinement, 2004) and a collection of his political and literary writings called Scritti (1964).