Wiesel was born in Sighet, Transylvania, in 1928, where his father, Shlomo, was a shopkeeper, and his mother, Sarah, was a homemaker. He had three older sisters: Hilda, Béatrice, and Tzipora.
In 1944, when Wiesel was 15 years old, he and his family were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Upon arriving at Auschwitz, Wiesel was separated from his mother and sisters, who were sent to the gas chambers where they were killed. Wiesel and his father were sent to the Buna-Monowitz concentration camp, where they were forced to work as slaves in a chemical factory.
In 1945, Wiesel and his father were transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where his father died of starvation and dysentery a few weeks before the camp was liberated by American troops. Wiesel survived Buchenwald and was liberated on April 11, 1945.
Wiesel's experiences in the concentration camps left him with a deep sense of loss and grief. He was determined to tell the world about what had happened to him and his people and vowed to never forget the victims.
After the war, Wiesel immigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1955. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and graduated from New York University with a degree in philosophy in 1955. He began writing about his experiences in the concentration camps, and his first book, Night, was published in 1956.
Night became a bestseller and has been translated into more than 30 languages. It has become one of the most important works of literature about the Holocaust. Wiesel's other works include The Town Beyond the Wall, The Gates of the Forest, and A Beggar in Jerusalem.
Wiesel received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the National Humanities Medal.
Wiesel was a professor of philosophy and Judaic studies at Boston University from 1976 until his death. He was also a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and served as its chairman from 1982 to 1993.
Wiesel died on July 2, 2016, at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Marion, and his two sons, Shlomo and Elisha.