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Ivan M. Lombardo Oral History Interviews

Oral History Interviews with
Ivan M. Lombardo

Italian politician. Served as Chief of the Italian delegation to the treaty negotiations with the U.S.A., 1947; member of the National Assembly, 1948-53; minister of Foreign Trade, 1950-51; and chief of the Italian delegation to the E.D.C. Conference, Paris, 1951-54.

Interview Transcripts
May 8, 1964 and July, 1970

[Notices and Restrictions | Biographical Sketch | Summaries of Interviews]

 

Notice
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the Morison oral history interview.

RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

 

Biographical Sketch

 

May 22, 1902
  • Born in Milan, Italy

1920-22
  • Editor of Labour Section of Socialist newspaper "AVANT II"

1922-25
  • Service in the Army in Lybia.

1925-44
  • Activity in trade and export business, market research, management of industrial plants.

1945
  • Appointed Commissioner for Industry in the Italian Liberation Committee for Lombardy.

1946-46
  • Under Secretary of State for Industry and Commerce in the Parri Cabinet, and in the first De Gasperi Cabinet.
  • Chairman of the Commission for Industry and Northern Italy.
  • Member of the National Consultative Body (Consulta).

1946
  • Chief of the Italian Delegation to the Cotton Conference in the U.S.A.
  • Secretary General of the Socialist Party (PSIUP) elected at its National Convention in Florence.
  • Member of the Constituent Assembly, elected in the Milan constituency.
  • Chief of Italian Delegation for trade and economic negotiations with France.

1947
  • Ambassador extraordinary leading Delegation to the U.S.A. for economic, financial and trade negotiations concluded in August, in Washington, D.C., with the signature of the Lovett/Lombardo Agreements.
  • Chief of Italian Mission to Mexico for political and economical negotiation.
  • President of Delegation for the negotiation of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Italy and the USA.
  • President of Delegation for the negotiation of the Diplomatic and Consuler Agreement with the U.S.A.

1948
  • When the Socialist Party (PSIUP) joined at its Rome Convention the Communist Party in the Popular Front, he organized a movement of Independent Socialists of which he was elected Secretary and subsequently joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD)

1948-49
  • Minister for Industry and Commerce in the fifth De Gasperi Cabinet.

1948-53
  • Member of the first Republican Parliament, elected in the Milan and Naples constituencies.

1948-61
  • President of Compagnia Nazionale Artisiana (CNA), Florence.

1949-61
  • President of Triennele International Exhibition of Decorative Arts, Industrial Design and Modern Architecture, Milan.

1950-51
  • Minister for Foreign Trade in the sixth De Gasperi Cabinet.

1951-52
  • Chief of the Italian Delegation at the Paris Conference for the EDC (European Community of Defense).

1951-52
  • Co-President with Ambassador J.D. Zellerbach (U.S.A.) in the Italian American Council for Marketing.

1951-
  • President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for the Americas, Rome.

1952-54
  • Chief of the Italian Delegation at the EDC Interim Committee, Paris.

1955-61
  • Member of the Board of the European Productivity Agency (EPA), Paris.

1955-
  • President of the General Committee and of the Board of the National Council for Productivity (CNP), Rome.

1955-
  • President elect of the Italian Atlantic Committee (CIA), Rome.

1959-
  • Elected member of the Assembly of the Provincial Council of Milan.

1959-60
  • Elected President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), London.

1962
  • Member of the Atlantic Convention of the NATO Nations, Paris.
  • Member of the Board of Governors of the Atlantic Institute, Paris.
  • Sponsor of the Declaration of Atlantic Unity
  • V.P. of the Board of the Council of the International Movement for Atlantic Union Inc., Washington.
  • Vice President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), Paris and London.
  • Member of the Board of ISAP (Institute for Studies of Scientific Management in the Public Administration), Milan.
  • Chairman of the Board of SCUIBB S.p.A., Rome; of CURITY S.p.A. Rome; of RAHSET ITALIANA S.p.A., Milan.
  • Member of the Boards of LEVANTE S.p.A., Genoa, BINOT S.p.A., Milan.
  • Grand Cross for Merit of the Italian Republic; Grand Officer of the "Orden de Mayo" of the Republic of Argentina; Officier de la Légion d’ Honneur; Gold Medal for Merit of the Municipality of Milan.

Summaries of Interviews

 

 

May 8, 1964

Lombardo discusses the Italian Socialist Party, the Lovett-Lombardo agreements, Alianza para el Progress, communism, UNRRA, the black market, OEEC, and postwar conditions in Italy.

July, 1970

Lombardo discusses US aid to Italy, Italian-US relations, Italian peace treaty, trady treaties with Italy, Communism in Italy, European trade, strategic materials, Italy-postwar, Marshall plan, trade liberalization, UNRRA, Organization for European Economic Cooperation, ECA, tariffs, Italy's economy, Export-Import Bank, and Socialism. Persons mentioned include Willard Thorp, Robert Lovett, Palmiro Togliatti, Alcide de Gasperi, Dean Acheson, Harland Cleveland, Edward E. Hunt, J. David Zellerbach, Ben T. Moore, Claire Booth Luce, James C. Dunn, Andrei Zhdanov, and Giuseppe Saragot.

 

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