Portrait of Elie Wiesel

Holocaust Survivor & Nobel Laureate

Elie Wiesel

אליעזר ויזל

September 30, 1928 - July 2, 2016

New York, New York

The life of Elie

Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania (now part of Ukraine) in 1928. At age 15, he and his family were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. His mother and younger sister perished immediately, and his father died shortly before liberation. Wiesel survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, and after the war, moved to France where he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. In 1958, he published 'Night,' his haunting memoir of the Holocaust, which has since been translated into 30 languages and read by millions. Wiesel became a powerful voice for Holocaust remembrance and human rights, authoring 57 books and serving as a professor at Boston University. In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work combating indifference, intolerance, and injustice. He passed away in 2016, leaving an indelible mark on how the world remembers the Holocaust.

For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.
Elie Wiesel

Notable achievements

Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1986)
Author of 57 books including the seminal work 'Night'
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Founding chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council