Emilio Gino Segrè was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Tivoli, near Rome, on 1 February 1905, the son of Giuseppe Segrè, a businessman who owned a paper mill, and Amelia Susanna Treves. He had two older brothers, Angelo and Marco. His uncle, Gino Segrè, was a law professor. He was educated at the "ginnasio" in Tivoli and, after the family moved to Rome in 1917, the "ginnasio" and "liceo" in Rome. He graduated in July 1922 and enrolled in the University of Rome La Sapienza as an engineering student.