Baron Giacomo de Martino (7 September 1868 – 25 June 1957) was an Italian diplomat and politician. He was the

Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Br ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

during the regime of Benito Mussolini.

Biography

Born in

Bern, Switzerland german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

to the nobleman Renato de Martino (brother of Giacomo, governor of the colonies) and the Swiss Elisabetta de Wirsen, Giacomo de Martino completed his early studies in the Swiss Confederation before moving to Italy, to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, where he graduated in social sciences at the Istituto Cesare Alfieri. Having embarked on a diplomatic career, de Martino became Head of Cabinet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a very young age (October

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

-January

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

) and then Secretary General (from 1913 to

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

), although technically he held the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary 1st Class. He was also Secretary General of the Italian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Promoted ambassador, he was posted to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

(1919-20),

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(1920-22),

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(1922-25) and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(1925-32). On January 23, 1927, De Martino traveled to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and spent several days touring the city addressing the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

community and explaining

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. While still in his diplomatic career, de Martino was appointed Senator of the Kingdom of Italy in 1928 and remained in Senate until 1944, when he was declared disqualified along with the other senators considered co-responsible for Fascism. His disqualification was revoked in 1946 but, as the monarchy had ceased to exist, this act was formally ineffective. With the advent of the Republic, de Martino retired from public life and died in Rome, Italy on 25 June 1957.

Honors

Grand cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Cavaliere di Gran Croce OCI Kingdom BAR

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy

References

Italian diplomats 20th-century diplomats Italian nobility 1868 births 1957 deaths People from Bern {{Italy-diplomat-stub