Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel will visit the University of Chicago on May 22 for a conversation with David Axelrod, director of the UChicago Institute of Politics.
Wiesel, the author of more than 60 books of fiction and non-fiction, will discuss his lifelong dedication to addressing the moral responsibility of all people to fight hatred, racism and genocide. In his words: “When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.”
Born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, now a part of Romania, Wiesel was 15 years old when the Nazis deported him and his family to Auschwitz. After the war, Wiesel studied in Paris and later became a journalist. During this time he wrote his internationally acclaimed memoir, "La Nuit" (or "Night"), which has since been translated into more than 30 languages. For his writing on the persistence of human dignity in the face of evil, Wiesel has been called “a messenger to mankind.”
A devoted supporter of Israel, Wiesel has also defended the cause of Soviet Jews, Nicaragua’s Miskito Indians, Argentina’s Desaparecidos, Cambodian refugees, the Kurds, victims of famine in Africa, victims of apartheid in South Africa, and victims of war in the former Yugoslavia and Darfur.
For his literary and human rights activities, Wiesel has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the rank of Grand Officer in the French Legion of Honor. He is the founding chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and he is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, where he also holds the title of University Professor. In 1986, he and his wife established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
The event, which will be held at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, is free and open to UChicago students, faculty, staff and the public. Although registration is now full, you may sign up for the waitlist here. If you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket order so others may register. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m.; if you have not arrived by 5:45, your seat will be given to a guest waiting on standby on a first-come basis.
Anyone can propose a question for the event via Twitter by using the hashtag #wieseluchicago.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
