Editing Primo Levi (section)

=== Writing career ===

==== 1946–1960 ====
Levi was almost unrecognisable on his return to Turin. [[Kwashiorkor|Malnutrition edema]] had bloated his face. Sporting a scrawny beard and wearing an old [[Red Army]] uniform, he returned to Corso Re Umberto. The next few months gave him an opportunity to recover physically, re-establish contact with surviving friends and family, and start looking for work. Levi suffered from the psychological trauma of his experiences. Having been unable to find work in Turin, he started to look for work in Milan. On his train journeys, he began to tell people he met stories about his time at Auschwitz.

At a [[Rosh Hashanah|Jewish New Year]] party in 1946, he met Lucia Morpurgo, who offered to teach him to dance, and Levi fell in love with her. At about that time, he started writing poetry about his experiences in Auschwitz.

On 21 January 1946, he started work at DUCO, a [[Du Pont Co.|Du Pont Company]] paint factory outside Turin. Because of the extremely limited train service, Levi stayed in the factory dormitory during the week, which gave him the opportunity to write undisturbed, and he started the first draft of ''[[If This Is a Man]]''.<ref>Thomson p. 229</ref> Every day, as memories came to him, he scribbled notes on train tickets and scraps of paper. At the end of February, he had ten pages detailing the last ten days between the German evacuation and the arrival of the Red Army. For the next ten months, the book took shape in his dormitory as he typed up his recollections each night.

On 22 December 1946, the manuscript was complete. Lucia, who now reciprocated Levi's love, helped him to edit it, to make the narrative flow more naturally.<ref>Thomson p. 241.</ref> In January 1947, Levi was taking the finished manuscript around to publishers. It was rejected by [[Giulio Einaudi|Einaudi]] on the advice of [[Natalia Ginzburg]] and, in the United States, it was turned down by [[Little, Brown and Company]] on the advice of rabbi [[Joshua L. Liebman|Joshua Liebman]], an opinion which contributed to the neglect of his work in that country for four decades.<ref>Ian Thompson, ''Primo Levi,'' (2003) 2019 pp. 241–242</ref><ref>Ian Thomson, 'Talked into Life,' [[Times Literary Supplement]]  29 June 2012 pp. 13–15 [14–15]</ref> The social wounds of the war years were still too fresh, and he had no literary experience to give him a reputation as an author.

Eventually, Levi found a publisher, Franco Antonicelli, through a friend of his sister.<ref name="Thomson p246">Thomson p. 246.</ref> Antonicelli was an amateur publisher, but as an active anti-Fascist, he supported the substance of the book.

At the end of June 1947, Levi suddenly left DUCO and teamed up with an old friend Alberto Salmoni to run a chemical consultancy from the top floor of Salmoni's parents' house. Many of Levi's experiences of that time found their way into his later writing. He and Salmoni made most of their money from making and supplying [[stannous chloride]] for mirror makers,<ref>Thomson p. 249.</ref> delivering the unstable chemical by bicycle across the city. Attempts to make lipsticks from reptile excreta, and a coloured [[tooth enamel|enamel]] to coat teeth, were turned into short stories. Accidents in their laboratory filled the Salmoni house with unpleasant smells and corrosive gases.

In September 1947, Levi married Lucia and, a month later, on 11 October, ''If This Is a Man'' was published, with a print run of 2,000 copies. In April 1948, with Lucia pregnant with their first child, Levi decided that the life of an independent chemist was too precarious. He agreed to work for Accatti in the family paint business, which traded under the name SIVA. In October 1948, his daughter Lisa was born.

During that period, his friend [[Lorenzo Perrone]]'s physical and psychological health declined. Lorenzo had been a civilian forced worker in Auschwitz, who for six months had given part of his ration and a piece of bread to Levi without asking for anything in return,<ref>''If This Is Man'' Chapter – 'The Events of Summer'</ref> and the gesture saved Levi's life. In his memoir, Levi contrasted Lorenzo with everyone else in the camp, prisoners and guards alike, as someone who managed to preserve his humanity. After the war, Lorenzo could not cope with the memories of what he had seen and descended into alcoholism. Levi made several trips to rescue his old friend from the streets but, in 1952, Lorenzo died.<ref name="Thomson p246"/> In gratitude for his kindness in Auschwitz, Levi named both of his children, Lisa Lorenza and Renzo, after him.

[[File:Primo Levi.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Levi, 1950s]]

In 1950, having demonstrated his chemical talents to Accatti, Levi was promoted to Technical Director at SIVA.<ref>Angier p. 487</ref> As SIVA's principal chemist and troubleshooter, Levi travelled abroad. He made several trips to Germany and carefully engineered his contacts with senior German businessmen and scientists. Wearing short-sleeved shirts, he made sure they saw the concentration camp number [[tattoo]]ed on his arm.

He became involved in organisations pledged to remembering and recording the horror of the camps. In 1954, he visited [[Buchenwald]] to mark the ninth anniversary of the camp's liberation from the Nazis. Levi dutifully attended many such anniversary events over the years and recounted his own experiences. In July 1957, his son Renzo was born.

Despite a positive review by [[Italo Calvino]] in {{lang|it|[[L'Unità]]}}, only 1,500 copies of ''If This Is a Man'' were sold. In 1958, [[Arnoldo Mondadori Editore|Einaudi]], a major publisher, published it in a revised form and promoted it.

In 1958 [[Stuart Woolf]], in close collaboration with Levi, translated ''If This Is a Man'' into English, and it was published in the UK by Orion Press in 1959. Also in 1959, Heinz Riedt, under close supervision by Levi,<ref>Thomson p. 287.</ref> translated the book into German. Because one of Levi's primary reasons for writing the book was to get the German people to realise what had been done in their name, and to accept at least partial responsibility, that translation was perhaps the most significant to him.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==== 1961–1974 ====
Levi began writing ''The Truce'' early in 1961. It was published in 1963, almost 16 years after his first book, and won the first annual [[Premio Campiello]] literary award that year. It is often published in one volume with ''If This Is a Man'', because it covers his long return through eastern Europe from Auschwitz. Levi's reputation was growing, and he regularly contributed articles to {{lang|it|[[La Stampa]]}}, the Turin newspaper. He worked to gain a reputation as a writer about subjects other than surviving Auschwitz.

In 1963, he suffered his first major bout of depression. At the time he had two young children, and a responsible job at a factory where accidents could and did have terrible consequences. He travelled and became a public figure. But the memory of what happened less than twenty years earlier still burned in his mind. Today, the link between such trauma and depression is better understood. Doctors prescribed several different drugs over the years, but they had variable efficacy and side effects.

In 1964, Levi collaborated with the state broadcaster [[RAI]] on a radio play based on ''If This Is a Man'' and, in 1966, with a theatre production.

Under the pen name of Damiano Malabaila, he published two volumes of science fiction short stories which explored ethical and philosophical questions. They imagined the effects on society of inventions which many would consider beneficial, but which, he saw, would have serious implications. Many of the stories from the two books {{lang|it|Storie naturali}} (''Natural Histories'', 1966) and {{lang|it|Vizio di forma}} (''Structural Defect'', 1971) were later collected and published in English as ''The Sixth Day and Other Tales''.

In 1974, Levi arranged to go into semi-retirement from SIVA in order to have more time to write. He also wanted to escape the burden of responsibility involved in managing the paint plant.<ref>Thomson p. 366.</ref>

==== 1975–1987 ====
In 1975, a collection of Levi's poetry was published under the title {{lang|it|L'osteria di Brema}} (''The Bremen Beer Hall''), which was published in English as ''Shema: Collected Poems''.

He wrote two other highly praised memoirs, {{lang|it|Lilit e altri racconti}} (''Moments of Reprieve'', 1978) and {{lang|it|Il sistema periodico}} (''The Periodic Table'', 1975). ''[[Moments of Reprieve]]'' deals with characters he observed during imprisonment. ''[[The Periodic Table (short story collection)|The Periodic Table]]'' is a collection of mostly autobiographical short stories, and also includes two fictional stories that he wrote in 1941 while being employed at the asbestos mine in San Vittore. Each story is named after a chemical element and the subject matter of each story is related to that element. On 19 October 2006, the [[Royal Institution]] in London declared that ''The Periodic Table'' was the [[best science book ever]] written.<ref name="Randerson"/>

In 1977, at the age of 58, Levi retired as a part-time consultant at the SIVA paint factory to devote himself full-time to writing. Like all his books, [[The Wrench|''La chiave a stella'']] (1978), published in the US in 1986 as ''The Monkey Wrench'' and in the UK in 1987 as ''The Wrench'', is difficult to categorize. Some reviews describe it as a collection of stories about work and workers, told by a narrator who resembles Levi. Others have called it a novel, created by the linked stories and characters. Set in the [[Fiat S.p.A.|Fiat]]-run Russian company town of [[Tolyatti|Togliattigrad]], it portrays the engineer as a hero on whom others depend. The Piedmontese engineer Faussone travelled the world as an expert in erecting cranes and bridges. Most of the stories involve the solution of industrial problems by the use of [[troubleshooting]] skills, and many stories come from the author's personal experience. The underlying philosophy is that pride in one's work is necessary for fulfilment. ''[[The Wrench]]'' won the [[Strega Prize]] in 1979 and brought Levi a wider audience in Italy, though left-wing critics regretted that he did not describe the harsh working conditions on the assembly lines at Fiat.<ref>Thomson p. 400.</ref>

In 1984, Levi published his only [[novel]], ''[[If Not Now, When? (novel)|If Not Now, When?]]''—or his second novel, if ''The Monkey Wrench'' is counted. It traces the fortunes of a group of [[Jewish partisans]] behind German lines during World War II as they seek to survive and continue their fight against the occupier. With the ultimate goal of reaching [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] to take part in the development of a [[Jewish state|Jewish national home]], the partisan band reaches Poland and then German territory. There, the surviving members are officially received as [[displaced persons]] in territory held by the Western allies. Finally, they succeed in reaching Italy, on their way to Palestine. The novel won both the {{lang|it|[[Premio Campiello]]}} and the {{lang|it|[[Premio Viareggio]]}}.

The book was inspired by events during Levi's train journey home after liberation from the concentration camp, which was narrated in ''The Truce''. At one point in the journey, a band of Zionists hitched their wagon to the refugee train. Levi was impressed by their strength, resolve, organisation and sense of purpose.

Levi became a major literary figure in Italy, and his books were translated into many other languages. ''The Truce'' became a standard text in Italian schools. In 1985, he flew to the United States for a 20-day speaking tour. Although he was accompanied by Lucia, the trip was very draining for him.

In the [[Soviet Union]], his early works were not accepted by censors because he had portrayed Soviet soldiers as slovenly and disorderly rather than heroic. In [[Israel]], a country formed partly by Jewish survivors who lived through horrors similar to those Levi described, many of his works were not translated and published until after his death.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Moments before Rudolf Höß was put to death for his crimes at Auschwitz.jpg|thumb|left|[[Rudolf Höss]] immediately before being hanged]]

In March 1985, he wrote the introduction to the re-publication of the autobiography<ref>Commandant of Auschwitz: {{lang|de|Rudolf Höß}}. {{ISBN|1-84212-024-7}}</ref> of [[Rudolf Höss]], who was commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1943. In it, he writes: "It's filled with evil ... and reading it is agony."

Also in 1985, a volume of his essays, previously published in {{lang|it|La Stampa}}, was published under the title {{lang|it|L'altrui mestiere}} (''Other People's Trades''). Levi used to write the stories and hoard them, releasing them to {{lang|it|La Stampa}} at the rate of about one a week. The essays ranged from book reviews and ponderings about strange things in nature, to fictional short stories.<ref name=":0" />

In 1986, his book {{lang|it|I sommersi e i salvati}} (''[[The Drowned and the Saved]]'') was published. In it, he tries to analyse why people behaved the way they did at Auschwitz and why some survived whilst others perished. In his typical style, he makes no judgments but presents the evidence and asks the questions. For example, one essay examines what he calls "the grey zone": those Jews who did the Germans' dirty work for them and kept the rest of the prisoners in line.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Sander H. |date=2016-08-01 |title=Primo Levi's Gray Zone: Implications for Post-Holocaust Ethics |url=https://academic.oup.com/hgs/article/30/2/276/1749522 |journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |language=en |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=276–297 |doi=10.1093/hgs/dcw037|s2cid=151930376 |issn=8756-6583 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He questioned what made a concert violinist behave as a callous taskmaster.

Also in 1986, a collection of short stories, previously published in {{lang|it|La Stampa}}, was assembled and published as {{lang|it|Racconti e saggi}}, some of which were published in the English volume ''[[The Mirror Maker]]''.

At the time of his death in April 1987, Levi was working on another selection of essays called ''The Double Bond'', which took the form of letters to {{lang|it|"La Signorina"}}.<ref>Angier p. 80.</ref> The essays are very personal in nature, and approximately five or six chapters of the manuscript exist. [[Carole Angier]], in her biography of Levi, describes how she tracked some of these essays down. She wrote that others were being kept from public view by Levi's close friends, to whom he gave them, and they might have been destroyed.

==== Posthumous publications ====
In March 2007, ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' published an English translation of Levi's story {{lang|it|"Knall"}}, about a fictitious weapon that is fatal at close range but harmless more than a meter away. It originally appeared in his 1971 book {{lang|it|Vizio di forma}} but was published in English for the first time by ''Harper's''.

''A Tranquil Star'', a collection of seventeen stories translated into English by [[Ann Goldstein (translator)|Ann Goldstein]] and Alessandra Bastagli<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780713999556,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203451/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780713999556,00.html | archive-date=2007-09-27 | title=A Tranquil Star –Primo Levi – Penguin UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/spring07/006468.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420222737/http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/spring07/006468.htm | archive-date=2007-04-20 | title=A Tranquil Star (Main Page)}}</ref> was published in April 2007.

In 2015, Penguin published ''The Complete Works of Primo Levi'', ed. Ann Goldstein. This is the first time that Levi's entire oeuvre has been translated into English.