The Last Interview: Conversations with Giovanni Tesio

by Primo Levi, Judith Woolf (Translator)

At the start of 1987, Primo Levi took part in a remarkable series of conversations about his early life with a friend and fellow writer, Giovanni Tesio. This book is the result of those meetings, originally intended to be the basis for an authorized biography and published here in English for the first time.

In a densely packed dialogue, Levi responds to Tesio’s tactful and never too insistent questions with a watchful readiness and candour, breaking through the reserve of his public persona to allow a more intimate self to emerge. Following the thread of memory, he lucidly discusses his family, his childhood, his education during the Fascist period, his adolescent friendships, his reading, his shyness and his passion for mountaineering, and recounts his wartime experience as a partisan and the terrible price it exacted from him and his comrades. Though we glimpse his later life as a writer, the story breaks off just before his deportation to Auschwitz owing to his sudden death.

In The Last Interview , Levi the man, the witness, the chemist and the writer all unite to offer us a story which is also a window onto history. These conversations shed new light on Levi’s life and will appeal to the many readers of this most eloquent witness to the horrors of the Holocaust.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Primo Levi was an Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor whose literary work has had a profound impact on how the world understands the Holocaust and its aftermath. Born in Turin in 1919, he studied chemistry at the University of Turin and graduated in 1941. During World War II, Levi joined the Italian resistance, but was captured by Fascist forces in 1943. Because he was Jewish, he was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, where he endured ten harrowing months before being liberated by the Red army.

After the war, Levi returned to Turin and resumed work as a chemist, but also began writing about his experiences. His first book, If This Is a Man (published in the U.S. as Survival in Auschwitz), is widely regarded as one of the most important Holocaust memoirs ever written. Known for its clarity, restraint, and moral depth, the book offers a powerful testimony of life inside the concentration camp. Levi went on to write several more works, including The Truce, a sequel recounting his long journey home after liberation, and The Periodic Table, a unique blend of memoir and scientific reflection, in which each chapter is named after a chemical element.

Throughout his writing, Levi combined scientific precision with literary grace, reflecting on human dignity, morality, and survival. His later works included fiction, essays, and poetry, all characterized by his lucid style and philosophical insight. Levi also addressed broader issues of science, ethics, and memory, positioning himself as a key voice in post-war European literature.

Despite his success, Levi struggled with depression in his later years, and in 1987 he died after falling from the stairwell of his apartment building in Turin. While officially ruled a suicide, the exact circumstances of his death remain a subject of debate. Nevertheless, his legacy endures. Primo Levi’s body of work remains essential reading for its deep humanity, intellectual rigor, and unwavering commitment to bearing witness.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primo Levi (1919-1987) war italienischer Chemiker und Schriftsteller. Als Antifaschist und Jude überlebte er Ausschwitz.

Im ersten Teil des Buches (nach einer kurzen Einleitung) sind Interviews mit Primo Levi zu lesen, welche Giovanni Tesio in den Wochen vor Levis Tod mit Levi führte. Es sind sehr strukturierte, chronologische Gespräche, die als Grundlage für Levis Biografie dienen sollten. Man erfährt vor allem viel über seine Kindheit und Jugend in Turin, aber auch von späteren Lebensphasen und -ereignissen. Die Sprache ist sehr klar und schnörkelos, was mir gut gefallen hat.

Da die Gesprächsreihe durch Levis Tod ein (für Außenstehende apruptes) Ende fand, erzählt im zweiten Teil des Buches Maike Albath von den späteren Lebensjahrzehnten Levis und insbesondere von seiner Entwicklung als Schriftsteller.

Ich wusste vor der Lektüre nichts über Primo Levi - außer seiner bekannten Feststellung zur Shoah „Es ist geschehen, und folglich kann es wieder geschehen“ - und fand das Buch außerordentlich interessant und es hat mein Interesse an seinen Büchern geweckt. Das i-Tüpfelchen war die ästhetische und hochwertige Gestaltung des Buchs durch den Secession Verlag (andere Ausgabe als bei GR abgebildet).

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a shame that Tesio was never able to write the authorised biography of Levi that had been intended when he began these interviews. Don't get me wrong, it is intriguing to be able to read Levi speak about his life in his own voice; and whenever he gets to a person or place he has forgotten the name of, or Tesio touches on a part of his life he does not wish to share, there is a very intimate sense of the real man who is speaking. While these three interviews understandably lack a sense of completeness or finality they certainly do not detract from Levi's work and, if anything, allow him to speak to us one last time.

[Dina Batista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giovanni Tesio pediu à Primo Levi para escrever a sua biografia autorizada, que Levi aceitou e daí resultou estas conversas que foram interrompidas com a morte de Levi em Abril de 1987. Discutiram a sua infância e juventude antes de Auschwitz (um miúdo tímido e solitário, que lia muito) e um pouco do seu pós Auschwitz, mas como isto era para uma biografia, Tesio pergunta muito pelos nomes dos envolvidos na sua vida, saltando no tempo e interrompendo Levi, deixando uma intrevista bastante imcompleta mesmo sem a morte de Levi.
Eu queria ouvir Levi a contar a sua vida com a sua voz, depois de ter lido na minha edição de "Se isto é um homem" as suas respostas ás questões mais perguntadas, que adorei porque se denotava a sua inteligência com respostas pertinentes e actuais para a nossa época, fiquei a espera de encontrar o mesmo nesta entrevista, mas não lhe foi dado a oportunidade de elaborar as respostas e a mim como leitora, de ouvir a sua voz como deve ser. Mas ainda tive a possibilidade de ver um vislumbre da sua infância e juventude.
Se alguém tiver uma boa biografia de Primo Levi a recomendar-me, agradecia.

[Arda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo ammetto, mi aspettavo altro. Parlando di Primo Levi, pensavo di trovare qualcosa che si concentrava di più sulla vita passata nei campi.

Tre incontri, nel 1987 (se non sbaglio) per creare quest'intervista. A domanda: risposta (un po' tradotta però). Le domande vertono sulla vita del famoso scrittore sopravvissuto, ma principalmente riguardando il periodo della scuola/università (quindi precedente alla Guerra) e poi del periodo subito dopo l'uscita dal campo.

Poche pagine, molto interessanti, che però finiscono così, all'improvviso, come se la registrazione fosse stata interrotta così, di botto...

Lo consiglio.
BUONE LETTURE!!

[Emma Dgrnd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Primo Levi is een geweldige schrijver. Ik vind het dan ook fout dat dit boek onder zijn naam staat. Het zou onder de naam van de interviewer moeten staan. Bij hem ligt alle fout. Hij vraagt voortdurend om namen (daar heeft de lezer niks aan), onderbreekt Levi, vraagt door over details terwijl Levi net interessant aan het vertellen was. Al is het triest dat het boek door de dood van Levi nooit herwerkt is kunnen worden, dan was het misschien wel heel goed geweest.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giovanni Tesio is Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Eastern Piedmont and was a friend of Primo Levi. This book (translated from Italian by Judith Woolf) consists of 3 interviews with Levi for a planned authorised biography but Levi died before they were completed and Tesio was reluctant to press him when he became uncomfortable so what’s here seems a bit shallow and dull and I’m not sure what they add to Levi’s legacy.

[Bas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wordt gepresenteerd als boek en zelfs als biografie; het is helaas verre van dat. Het zijn een paar gesprekken die ook nog eens grotendeels bekend terrein betreden. Voor wie na het lezen van Levi’s bekende werk (Is dit een mens, Periodiek systeem) wat extra context wil is dit een leuke toevoeging.

[Kris Minne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informatief.

[Lievevc · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the parts about Levi's childhood and life after Auschwitz were interesting, I was left wanting more.