Emilio G. Segre was born on February 1, 1905, in Tivoli, Italy. He came from a Jewish family. He attended the University of Rome, where he earned his doctorate in physics in 1928. Segrè faced discrimination due to the anti-Semitic laws in Italy during the fascist regime, which affected his academic career.

Segrè received his education at the University of Rome, where he worked under the guidance of the renowned physicist Enrico Fermi. Fermi, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics, greatly influenced Segrè’s career and research interests. Segrè earned his doctorate in physics in 1928.