Elena Loewenthal appointed director of Circolo dei Lettori in Turin

Elena Loewenthal, born in Turin in 1960, has been named the new director of the Fondazione Circolo dei Lettori, selected by the board of directors after a public competition. She succeeds Maurizia Rebola, whose five-year term ended in December. Loewenthal is a writer, translator, and columnist with a long career in Jewish studies and Israeli literature, winning the National Prize for Translation in 1999 from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. She has authored numerous books, including "Con i bottoni del signor Montefiore e altre storie ebraiche" (Andersen Prize 1997) and "Lo strappo dell'anima" (2003). She taught Jewish culture at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele and currently teaches at IUSS Pavia. From 2015 to 2017, she served as cultural attaché at the Italian Embassy in Israel. She writes for La Stampa and Tuttolibri. Foundation president Giulio Biino, in office since 2018 (succeeding Luca Beatrice), praised the appointment. The Circolo dei Lettori, founded by the Piedmont Region, operates venues in Turin, Novara, and Rivoli (Circolo della Musica). It organizes events, festivals (Scaraboochi, Torino Spiritualità, Festival del Classico), and cultural programs in schools, prisons, and hospitals. Since 2018, it has managed the cultural content of the Turin International Book Fair.