Francesco Maria Taliani de Marchio (22 October 1887 – 16 March 1968) was an

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 ...

diplomat who was most notable for his role as ambassador to China (1938–1946) during

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 opposing ...

. In this capacity he was accredited to the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...

of the

Reorganized National Government of China The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

, under

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

. In 1943, he refused to pledge loyalty to the Italian Social Republic and was briefly imprisoned by the Japanese. After the war he subsequently was made first Italian ambassador to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(1951–1952) since the countries broke relations in 1946. Taliani was married to

Archduchess Margaretha of Austria Archduchess Margaretha of Austria (german: Margaretha, Erzherzogin von Österreich-Toskana;(8 May 1894 – 21 January 1986) was a daughter of Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria and Infanta Blanca of Spain. She was member of the Tuscan branch of t ...

Biography

Early career

He was born in Ascoli Piceno in 1887. After studying law at the

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 research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in 1910 he entered the foreign minister and was first 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 ...

in 1912, before being transferred to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

in 1913. pp. 704 There Taliani helped protect Italian citizens in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and spent the early part of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1916 was transferred to the Italian embassy in Petrograd,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, throughout the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

until 1919. Taliani then worked at the foreign minister's office before being posted in

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 ...

from 1921 to 1923, and then returning to Constantinople until 1928. Back in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

he was appointed the head of the ceremonial office. In 1932 Taliani was at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and in 1938 he was made head of the Italian diplomatic mission in the Republic of China. Initially he was accredited as the ambassador to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government in the early stages of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, which was later forced to move to Chongqing as

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, the capital,

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

to the advancing Japanese forces. Stefano Baldi (21 May 2008)
TALIANI de MARCHIO Francesco Maria
. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
. Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Published 7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2017. Taliani was married to

(a member of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

) on 27 November 1937, and she accompanied him to China, becoming imprisoned with him in 1943. The couple had no children.

Ambassador to China

However, in 1941 Benito Mussolini recognized the Japanese

, the

under

in occupied Nanjing, so Taliani presented his credentials to him. Taliani had met Wang many times in Shanghai and reported that he was encountering many difficulties with Japan in setting up his government. Mussolini expected Japan to draw British forces away from the Mediterranean region, and so from 1941 to the fall of Mussolini's regime in 1943 Italian policy towards China revolved around exerting pressure on Japan to give greater autonomy to the Wang Jingwei government. Ambassador Taliani sent regular reports to foreign minister Count

Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law, Benito Mussolini, from 1936 until 1 ...

regarding the situation in occupied China. Throughout 1941 and early 1942, Taliani informed his government about his conversations with Wang Jingwei (as well as with Japanese diplomatic contacts in Shanghai) in which the Chinese politician spoke to him about his lack of power and the strict limits the Japanese put on his administration, and the increasing pessimism among his supporters. He also told Taliani that Japan was still considering establishing peace with Chiang Kai-shek and a plan being considered by the Japanese military would take away even what little powers Wang Jingwei did have, turning it into an organ of the military administration. This caused the Italian government to increase its attempts at making Japan grant the Nanjing regime more authority. But in 1943 with the establishment of the Italian Social Republic, Taliani refused to pledge allegiance to the new regime, so the Japanese imprisoned him until the surrender of Japan in August 1945. In 1945 he was confirmed Italian ambassador to China, a post he held until 1946 when he returned to Italy. During his time in China, he became a collector of Chinese antiques, and obtained several from the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

era.Bo Leung (30 November 2017)
Auction offering insight into brutal chapter of history
''

China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...

''. Retrieved 29 December 2017.

Ambassador to Spain

In 1951, Taliani became the first Italian ambassador to be appointed to Spain since Italy broke off relations with the

Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...

government in 1946. Taliani met with Francisco Franco and the two discussed both the restoration of Italian–Spanish relations as well as the international situation, particularly in regards to Spain joining

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. In his position he continued to play an important role in the reestablishment of relations between the two countries. He was replaced as ambassador in 1952 and forced into retirement.

Later life

Taliani went on to publish multiple books throughout his life, most of them dealing with his experiences throughout his diplomatic career, including ''He Died in China'', ''Italy and Spain'', ''Postwar in Shanghai'', and ''Petersburg 1917: Memories of an embassy secretary at the Italian embassy in Russia, 1917–1918''.Libri scritti da diplomatici italiani
in ''Penna del diplomatico'' by Stefano Baldi The former ambassador died in 1968.

Publications

*''Pietrogrado, 1917'',

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

, Verona, 1935. *''Petersburg 1917: herinneringen van een gezantschaps-secretaris in dienst bij de Italiaansche ambassade in Rusland in de jaren 1917 en 1918'', Van Kampen & Zoon, Amsterdam, 1936. *''Vita del Cardinal Gasparri. Segretario di Stato e povero prete'', Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Verona, 1938. *''È morto in Cina'', Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Verona, 1949. *''Muriò en China, Sucesores de Rivadeneyra'', Madrid, 1952. *''Vida del Cardenal Gasparri'', Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1952. *''Dopoguerra a Shangai'', Garzanti, Milano, 1958. *''Veli stracciati'', Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milano, 1966.

Honors

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 1st Class / Knight Grand Cross – December 30, 1952

Sources

References

Books

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taliani de Marchio, Francesco Maria 1887 births 1968 deaths Ambassadors of Italy to China Ambassadors of Italy to Spain Italian anti-fascists Italian expatriates in Russia Italian expatriates in Turkey Italian people imprisoned abroad World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Italian diplomats 20th-century diplomats Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic