ENRICO FERMI

 

 BY SAMUEL K. ALLISON

 

 ENRICO FERMI, destined to be the first man to achieve the con-trolled release of nuclear energy, was born in Rome on Sep-tember 29, 1901. His father, Alberto Fermi, was employed in theadministration of the Italian railroads, finally rising to the positionof division head. His mother, who had been Ida de Gattis, was aschool teacher before her marriage. There were three children, ofwhom two, Enrico and Maria, who was two years his senior, survivedto adulthood.

 

http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/fermi-enrico.pdf