Wiesel (Elie) is born in Sighet, Romania.

Elie Wiesel survives confinement in Nazi concentration camps where his father, mother, and a sister die. After being liberated in 1945, he becomes a journalist, novelist, scholar, and human rights advocate. Wiesel comes to Boston in 1976 to teach at Boston University, which subsequently establishes an Elie Wiesel Center for the for Judaic studies. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986,* he continues to teach in Boston until his retirement in 2011. Wiesel dies in New York City on July 2, 2016.