George Emil Bria (March 2, 1916 – March 18, 2017) was an Italian-American journalist who worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP). He spent part of his early career as a war correspondent covering the Italian Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, reporting on the surrender of German forces and witnessing the corpse of recently deceased Italian dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

. Bria later became the chief AP correspondent at the United Nations and retired in 1981. He also wrote gardening columns, tending to his own vegetable garden in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, after retiring.

Career

Bria was born in Rome and immigrated with his family to

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

, at a young age. He graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

and began his career as a journalist with the '' Waterbury Democrat'' and ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

''. Bria was hired by the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

AP bureau in 1942, reporting on the

Cocoanut Grove fire The Cocoanut Grove fire was a nightclub fire which took place in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on November 28, 1942, and resulted in the deaths of 492 people. It is the deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, and the second-deadliest ...

. The Italian- and French-speaking Bria was sent to the Rome AP bureau in May 1944 and wrote daily dispatches from the Allied front in Italy. Bria was flown to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in April 1945 to view the body of

shortly after his execution, and was the first AP newsman to report on the surrender of German forces in Italy on May 2. After the war, Bria joined the AP bureau in Germany, reporting on the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

and the

Berlin airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

, before returning to Rome and New York. Bria returned to the AP Foreign Desk in 1961 as a supervisory editor, known among subordinates for favoring brevity in reports, once stating that "the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

could be reported in 400 words". He was chief AP correspondent at the United Nations in 1972–74, before returning to his Foreign Desk editor's position. He retired in 1981. Bria continued in retirement as a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

, publishing columns on gardening until 2002.

Personal life

Bria lived with his wife, Mary, until her death in 1998. In 2000, he married Arlette Philippous Brauer, a writer and editor for the medical magazine ''MD''. He lived in

Pound Ridge Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

, an affluent suburb of New York City in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

. Bria was an avid

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, participating in national over-85 tennis tournaments.

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading