Fleeting Rome: In Search of la Dolce Vita

Carlo Levi was born in Turin, Italy, on November 29, 1902, one of the children of Ercole and Annetta (Treves) Levi. Levi's father was a merchant who also enjoyed painting, and Carlo Levi himself became well-known for his landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. Levi valued his artistry at least as much as his writing, and his paintings have show more retained their value. Levi originally pursued a career in medicine, receiving an M.D. degree in 1924 from the University of Turin. He painted and performed medical research, but he also became involved in anti-Fascist activities in opposition to Benito Mussolini's government, and he was jailed repeatedly during the 1930s and 1940s. His imprisonment in the malaria-stricken southern Italian town of Gagliano greatly influenced Levi's later life. While treating the impoverished and ill citizens, he felt extreme pity, and the time spent in Gagliano led to his most famous work, Christ Stopped at Eboli (1945). This literary work won the Arianna Mondadori del Corniere Lombardo Prize. Levi also published the political/philosophical Of Fear and Freedom (1948), along with the novel The Watch (1948); and several authentic travel books on the cultures of the Soviet Union, Germany, Sardinia, and Sicily. Carlo Levi's frequent depiction of owls would become his artistic symbol. He died in Rome on Jan. 4, 1975. (Bowker Author Biography) show less