Umberto Vattani (born 5 December 1938) is an Italian diplomat. The only official in the history of

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 re ...

to have twice held the position of Secretary General of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. He was also the last president of the National Institute for Foreign Trade until his suppression in 2011 .

Education

Born in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

(then

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

), to a family of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he studied in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, on a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. In 1960 he obtained a degree in Law at

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

and in 1962 a degree in political science. In 1961, following a public competition, he was hired by the

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy ( Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', informally referred to as ''Bankitalia''), (), is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, via Nazionale, Rome. The bank's cur ...

and assigned to the Research Office. The following year, for subsequent competition, Vattani was hired at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entered the diplomatic career.

Diplomatic career

His first experiences brought him to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to the Italian representation at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(1963 - 1965) and to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, to the Italian representation at the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

(1966 - 1969). After a short period at the Italian Embassy in London, he returned to Italy as deputy head of cabinet of Foreign Ministers Mariano Rumor and

Arnaldo Forlani Arnaldo Forlani, (; born 8 December 1925) is an Italian former politician and statesman who served as the 43rd prime minister of Italy from 18 October 1980 to 28 June 1981. He also held the office of deputy prime minister, minister of Foreign A ...

(1975 - 1978). Later, as head of the Cabinet Minister with responsibility for scientific and technological research (1978- 1980), he promoted the entry of Italy into the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 mem ...

(ESO). Between 1980 and 1981, Vattani was head secretary of the Prime Minister

, and later plenipotentiary minister at the Italian Embassy in London (1982 - 1986). In 1986 he returned to Rome to take on the role of diplomatic adviser to the presidents of the Council of Ministers

Ciriaco De Mita Luigi Ciriaco De Mita (; 2 February 1928 – 26 May 2022) was an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 1988 to July 1989. A member of the Christian Democracy (DC), De Mita served as its secretary and leader from Ma ...

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...

and

Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...

(1988 - 1992) and was appointed ''Sherpa'' for the G7 summits. Appointed later ambassador in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

remained for five years (1992- 1996). Back in Rome, he served as head of cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Lamberto Dini Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...

in the

Prodi I Cabinet The first Prodi government was the 53rd government of Italy. It held office from 18 May 1996 until 21 October 1998. Formation On 21 April 1996, the Olive Tree won 1996 general election in alliance with the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), ...

. In September 1997, Vattani was appointed first secretary general, replacing Boris Biancheri, the most important assignment for a diplomat at the Foreign Ministry (1997- 2001). With the start of

Berlusconi II Cabinet The second Berlusconi government was the 57th government of the Italian Republic and the first government of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 Italian general election, 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until ...

(2001), Vattani was initially indicated as a possible foreign minister.Corriere della Sera
18 February 2001 When Berlusconi finally chose

Renato Ruggiero Renato Ruggiero (9 April 1930 – 4 August 2013) was an Italian diplomat and politician. He was Director-General of the World Trade Organization from 1995 to 1999 and briefly served as Italy's Foreign Minister in 2001. Biography Born in Naples ...

, they replaced it with the General Secretariat colleague Giuseppe Baldocci, and sent Vattani to Brussels (2001- 2003) as the Permanent Representative of Italy to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, in the period of

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

. In 2004, following the retirement of Ambassador Baldocci, Vattani was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the second time, until June 2005. In 2005 Vattani was nominated president of the National Institute for Foreign Trade by the Council of Ministers and in 2009 he was reconfirmed for a second term until the institution was suppressed in 2011. He is president of the Japan-Italy Foundation and general manager of the

Italy–USA Foundation Italy–USA Foundation (Italian: ''Fondazione Italia USA'') is a non-profit non-partisan organization based in Rome, Italy, established to promote friendship between Italians and Americans plus American culture in Italy. Organization The founda ...

. He is president of

Venice International University Venice International University (VIU) is an international center for higher education and research located on the island of San Servolo, in Venice, Italy. It was established on December 15, 1995 as a consortium of five Universities and two Ita ...

, formed on the Italian side by the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

, the

Ca' Foscari University of Venice Ca' Foscari University of Venice ( it, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, simply Università Ca' Foscari) is a public university in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from w ...

and the

Università Iuav di Venezia Iuav University of Venice ( it, Università Iuav di Venezia) is a university in Venice, Italy. It was founded in 1926 as the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia as one of the first Architecture schools in Italy. The university curren ...

in Venice . He was president of Sviluppo Italia Sicilia until 2012.

Honours

National honours

Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

- 27 December 1997 * Grande ufficiale OMRI BAR

Grand Officer of the

- 27 December 1986 * Commendatore OMRI BAR

Commander of the

- 27 December 1983Sito web del Quirinale: dettaglio decorato.
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Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) ...

* : Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

* : Honorary Knight Grand Cross of

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

* : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Pope Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (being ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vattani, Umberto 1938 births Living people Ambassadors of Italy to Germany Permanent Representatives of Italy to the European Union Italian diplomats 20th-century diplomats Wesleyan University alumni Sapienza University of Rome alumni Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX

Education

Diplomatic career

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

See also

References