CENTRO PRIMO LEVI NEW YORK
Anchored in Primo Levi’s reflection on power, justice, and the impact of science and technology on the planet and human relations, Centro Primo Levi has for over 25 years been home to scholars, writers, scientists, and artists seeking to develop and discuss their work in the fields of: (1) Primo Levi’s work and its resonance across societies and times; (2) Italian Fascism, its expansion to Europe and beyond, and the persecution of Jews in Italy; (3) History and historiography through the eyes of the Italian peninsula’s Jewish minorities; (4) Languages, poetry, text, and translation.
CPL’s research projects are partly chronicled in the online zine Printed Matter, the publishing imprint CPL Editions, the web documentary series CPL Minidocs, and the institution’s video library. Works in progress are periodically presented at partner venues such as CUNY, NYU, and NYPL, as well as at venues that CPL has temporarily inhabited, including the historic Vanni bookstore and Vol de Nuit in the West Village. Most recently, CPL has launched the Bookhouse in the American Sephardi Federation’s Chelsea space.
The Center collaborates with libraries and archives, facilitates the placement and study of private document collections, and promotes the appreciation of historical books through its publications and public programs. Centro Primo Levi offers internships and fellowships, welcoming a wide range of proposals. Fellows are provided with a workspace, access to libraries and archives, and opportunities to present their work in progress.
BOOKHOUSE AND THE STELLA LEVI DIWAN ROOM
The recent establishment of Bookhouse has revitalized CPL’s collaboration with the American Sephardi Federation and Dan Wyman, a book dealer specializing in 18th–20th 20th-century Hebraica and the Jewish American press. Together, they have created a communal space centered on books and scholarship. Bookhouse features a seminar room—the Stella Levi Diwan Room—and a bookstore with both antiquarian and academic sections. Bookhouse hosts workshops, publishing, presentations from CPL fellows, and study sessions every week. Bookhouse offers a growing selection of antique, classic and new books related to CPL’s areas of interest.
PROJECTS
Primo Levi on Labor and the Environment. Beginning this year, CPL’s ongoing work on Primo Levi will focus on an aspect of his legacy that was prominent during his lifetime but has received relatively little scholarly attention: his reflections on labor, explored most fully in his book The Wrench, and on the human impact on nature and the environment.
The Hebrew Book Workshop. Drawing on its longstanding collaborations with Jewish libraries and archives across exhibitions, publications, and research projects, CPL has begun making its resources available to develop the blueprint for an exhibition on the history of the Hebrew book. We invite scholars, writers, collectors, dealers, playwrights, and filmmakers to explore and discuss stories of Hebrew books and their connections to the book histories of other languages. This workshop will lead to a series of short films to be screened at Bookhouse.
Erna Finci Viterbi Chazanut Project. The Italian peninsula has been a cultural crossroads of many cultures. Jewish minorities have inhabited and transited through it for twenty-two centuries and made it an important laboratory of language, poetry, and music. The liturgical tradition offers a privileged viewpoint to explore the history of spoken and written language. CPL’s programs and publications in this area have led to a collaboration with the Leo Levi Center and the creation of the Thesaurus of Italian Jewish Music.
Jews in the Italian Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire. After many years of supporting research and publications on Italian Fascism, its expansion, and its post-war continuities, the Center has shifted its focus to the period preceding World War I and the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. This development stemmed from several projects dedicated to the Jewish communities under Italian colonial rule or occupation (the Island of Rhodes and the Dodecannese, Libya, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia), as well as communities for which Italian was one of several spoken languages (Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey). Within this frame, CPL invites scholars from around the world to engage in dialogue on key events and historiographical perspectives.
Board of directors
- Andrew Viterbi, President
- Jeffrey Keil, President
- Stella Levi
- Erna Viterbi z’l
- Felice Ghilardi
- Sarah Wolf Hallac
- Isabelle Levy
- Alessandro Di Rocco
- Alan Viterbi
- Natalia Indrimi
Staff and Collaborator
- Natalia Indrimi, Executive director
- Alessandro Cassin, Deputy director,
- Director of publishing
- Sofia Quaglia, Production
- Yuval Jonas, Publicity
- Jahreen Hussain, Outreach
- Design by Jonathan Wajskol
- Mini-docs and videos by Awen-Films, NY
Address and contact
- Centro Primo Levi
- 15 West 16th Street, 6th floor
New York, NY 10011
- Telephone: + 1-917-606-8202
- Email: in**@*************er.org