George Venable Allen (November 3, 1903 – July 11, 1970) was a United States

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

. He served as ambassador to Iran during the crisis of 1946 and was involved in managing US relations amid the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He was involved in expanding activities of the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

, exporting culture and increasing US participation in the UNESCO.

Biography

Born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th- ...

, son of a merchant Thomas Ellis Allen and Harriet Moore, he attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

—then known as Trinity College—graduating in 1924 and from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1929. He worked briefly as a high school teacher between 1924 and 1928 and as a newspaper reporter for the ''Asheville Times'' and ''Durham Herald''. He joined the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1930 working first as vice consul in Kingston, Jamaica and later in Shanghai, China, Patras, Greece and Cairo, Egypt. He served as U.S. Ambassador to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

from 1946 to 1948. During this period he worked on preventing a Soviet Iran oil agreement and led to the Iranian prime minister Ahmad Qavam dropping communist cabinet members. He also helped build ties with Shah

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

, playing weekly tennis matches with the monarch. He served as

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

from 1948 to 1949, U.S. Ambassador to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

from 1949 to 1953,

United States Ambassador to India The United States Ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. Ambassador's office is situated at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Chiefs of Mission to India U.S. Ambassadors to the Dominion ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

1953–1954. While in India he along with Dwight D. Eisenhower supported India's rival Pakistan with military support as a deterrent against Soviet relations with India. He then served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs from 1953 to 1954, U.S. Ambassador to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

1956–1957, and Director of the U.S. Information Agency from 1957 to 1960.

Later years

Allen was president of the

Tobacco Institute The Tobacco Institute, Inc. was a United States tobacco industry trade group, founded in 1958 by the American tobacco industry. It was dissolved in 1998 as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.The Tobacco Institute's headquarters were k ...

from 1960 to 1966. Allen appeared as himself, while serving as the Director of the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...

, on the February 6, 1967 episode of the game show '' To Tell the Truth''. He deceived none, receiving all four votes from the panel.

Family

He married Katherine Martin in 1934, author of a self-published book on their lives overseas, ''Foreign Service Diary.'' They had three children, George V. Allen, Jr., John M. Allen and Richard A. Allen, all lawyers in Washington, D.C. He died at

Bahama, North Carolina Bahama is an unincorporated community in northern Durham County, North Carolina, United States. History Prior to European colonization, the present location of Bahama and the surrounding upper Neuse River basin were home to native peoples includi ...

and is interred in

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...

in Washington D.C.

Notes

External links

George V. Allen Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, George Venable Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University alumni People from Durham, North Carolina 1903 births 1970 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to India Ambassadors of the United States to Iran Ambassadors of the United States to Nepal United States Information Agency directors Ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia 20th-century American diplomats United States Career Ambassadors United States Assistant Secretaries of State Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs