![]() But the third brother, Marco, for instance, stayed in Italy. At Berkeley, he was a research associate. Even though it was a demotion, because he had been a professor in Italy. One of whom was a physicist, and the physicist had left- Zierler:Įmilio gone to- in 1938, to Berkeley. For instance, my father was one of three brothers. But it was, you know, one of those decisions. But they would sometimes speak in German. They had met in the early 20s, and they had come together to Italy around 1923. And I think it's a good idea to leave." So- Zierler:Īnd what language did they speak to each other in? Segrè: But my mother, who had come from a working class German family, said to him, "You don't know what Germany is like." Zierler: But he had a very positive view of Germany as a very educated, civilized place. Well, he had spent a few years in Germany. Now, I'm curious, I don't know if you ever talked to your par- Obviously, you were too young for this, but in terms of your parents sensing what was going on in 1938, did your father, did he think that if they had not gotten out, it would have been a matter of life and death at that point? Segrè: As I like to say, "Ah, the old days in Havana." Back in 1939. And so we re-entered with visas from Cuba. I have an uncle who was then in California. ![]() Lots of people did this in different ways. Once we got to New York, we looked around, as did many other immigrants, for ways to convert these visitors visas into long-term visas, permanent residence visas, and it appeared that the way to do so was to leave the United States temporarily, go someplace nearby, and then re-enter. We of course had round-trip tickets on the Rex, the flagship of the Italian steamship company. So we left Italy in May of 1939 with a visitor's visa, supposedly just to go see the New York Worlds Fair, which had started in April 1939. And it began to look like it would be a good thing to get out of Italy. My father was a university professor, and the anti-Semitic laws had been passed in Italy in the summer of 1938, just before I was born, and so he was suspended from the university. My father is an Italian Jew and my mother is a German Catholic. I was born in Florence, Italy in October 1938. Before World War II, tell me about your birthplace, and your family background, and your early childhood in Italy, and then of course, coming to the United States shortly after you were born. And now let's go right back to the beginning. I'm an emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Okay, so to start, tell me your title and institutional affiliation. Gino, thank you so much for being with me today. It's my great pleasure to be here with Professor Gino Segrè. This is David Zierler, oral historian for the American Institute of Physics. Disclaimer: This transcript was scanned from a typescript, introducing occasional spelling errors. Please bear in mind that: 1) This material is a transcript of the spoken word rather than a literary product 2) An interview must be read with the awareness that different people's memories about an event will often differ, and that memories can change with time for many reasons including subsequent experiences, interactions with others, and one's feelings about an event. Please contact us for information about accessing these materials. For many interviews, the AIP retains substantial files with further information about the interviewee and the interview itself. If this interview is important to you, you should consult earlier versions of the transcript or listen to the original tape. ![]() The AIP's interviews have generally been transcribed from tape, edited by the interviewer for clarity, and then further edited by the interviewee. This transcript is based on a tape-recorded interview deposited at the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics. This transcript may not be quoted, reproduced or redistributed in whole or in part by any means except with the written permission of the American Institute of Physics.
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