Tullia Zevi (née Calabi; 2 February 1919 – 22 January 2011) was an Italian journalist and writer. Zevi's family fled Italy to France and then to the US after the rise of fascism in the 1930s. While in New York City, she married

Bruno Zevi Bruno Zevi (22 January 1918 – 9 January 2000) was an Italian architect, historian, professor, curator, author, and editor. Zevi was a vocal critic of "classicizing" modern architecture and postmodernism. Early life Zevi was born and died in ...

. She returned to Europe in 1946, and was one of the few women journalists to report the

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. On her return to Italy, she played a major role in Interfaith dialog, and was active in Italian

Centre-left politics Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonly ...

. Zevi was president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities from 1983 to 1998.

Biography

Zevi was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, one of four children of an upper middle-class Jewish-Italian family. Her father Giuseppe Calabi was a lawyer and prominent

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

. Her brother was the mathematician Eugenio Calabi. Zevi studied philosophy at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

and studied music at the

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory, also known as the Conservatorio di Milano and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, is a Music school, college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital ...

. When the Fascist government of Italy passed

anti-Jewish laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout the history of antisemitism and Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". During the 1930s and early 1940s, some law ...

, Zevi was on holiday in Switzerland with her family. Later they moved to France, where Zevi continued her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. Anticipating the

Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

, the Calabi family emigrated to the United States, where she joined the antifascist Mazzini Society and considered Gaetano Salvemini her teacher. In New York she met architect

. The couple married in 1940. As a journalist, Zevi reported the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. Zevi returned to Italy in 1946. Zevi was an Italian correspondent for London-based newspaper ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' from 1948 to 1963 and Israeli newspaper ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'' from 1960 to 1993.

Awards

Zevi was awarded the Knighthood of the Great Cross in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zevi, Tullia 1919 births 2011 deaths Journalists from Milan 20th-century Italian Jews Presidents of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities Italian women writers Italian writers Italian women journalists University of Milan alumni 20th-century Italian women Italian expatriates in France Italian expatriates in the United States Jewish Italian writers Milan Conservatory alumni