Leone Ginzburg (Italian: Leone Ginzburg; 4 April 1909, Odesa — 5 February 1944, Rome) was an Italian writer, journalist, publisher, and educator; a prominent figure of the anti-fascist movement and a hero of the Italian Resistance. He was the husband of writer Natalia Ginzburg and the father of historian Carlo Ginzburg.
Early Life and EducationHe was born on 4 April 1909 in Odesa into a Jewish family. In childhood, he moved with his parents first to Berlin and later to Turin. He studied at the Massimo d’Azeglio Lyceum in Turin, an institution that nurtured future intellectuals and political activists of the anti-fascist movement. Among his classmates were influential thinkers such as Norberto Bobbio, Piero Gobetti, Cesare Pavese, Giulio Einaudi, and others.
In the early 1930s, Ginzburg taught Slavic languages and Russian literature at the University of Turin. He translated into Italian the works of Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. In 1933, he co-founded the publishing house Einaudi together with Giulio Einaudi. In 1934, he lost his academic position after refusing to swear allegiance to the Fascist regime.
PersecutionLeone Ginzburg was persecuted for his anti-fascist activities. He took part in the so-called Ponte Tresa Affair and was involved in Giustizia e Libertà, an organization founded by Carlo Rosselli. In 1938, he married Natalia Ginzburg.