Enrico Anzilotti
 Enrico Anzilotti  (diplomat) | |
|---|---|
 Enrico Anzilotti (in white) inspecting Somali troops | |
| Born | 8 February 1898 Florence, Italy |
| Died | 1983 (Age 85) 17 December 1983 |
| Nationality | Italian |
Governor of Italian Somaliland from 1957-1958. Attended the 1959 Bilderberg
| |
Enrico Anzilotti was an Italian diplomat.[1]
Contents
Early Life
Born in 1898, Enrico had to interrupt his studies because he was conscripted to participate in the First World War as an artillery officer.
At the end of the war, after a period spent as a military employee, he resumed his university studies and graduated in law in 1925. In the same year he passed the admission exam to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 1926 he was sent to Cairo in Egypt, on behalf of the Italian government, where he worked as a legation assistant. In 1927 he was transferred to French Algeria, where he remained until 1931. The following year he was appointed consul in Melbourne, Australia, where he remained until 1936.
Afghanistan during World War 2
In 1937, after a short period in Italy, he was sent to Afghanistan.In the period spent at the legation in Kabul, he had learned fluent Pashtun, a language that allowed him to relate to the local population.
In fact, one of his characteristics, which he demonstrated in all his diplomatic jobs, was that of trying to understand the countries and peoples to which he was sent on a mission, trying to study them thoroughly both from the point of view of language and local customs.
After the war started in 1940, his mission was to arm the Afghan tribes on the British border. He remained there until 1944, when he was recalled to Italy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (after Italy having switched sides to the Allies in the war), as head of the section dealing with the British Empire and the Middle East.
After WW2
In January 1946 he moved to Chungking in China, then the war capital of the Chiang Kai-Shek government, and then to Nanking, as head of mission. Enrico remained in China until 1948.
Subsequently, again in 1948, Enrico Anzilotti was sent as adviser to the embassy in London, while in 1949 he had another prestigious position: he became the first Italian representative in the new state of Israel.
In 1952 he was appointed ambassador and moved to Vienna in Austria, where he remained until June 1955, when he became governor of Somalia, then formally still an Italian colony. He remained in the Horn of Africa until July 1958, where he tried to select "moderate" leaders for the independence era.
Upon returning from Somalia, he was forced to retire from his diplomatic career for health reasons, and retired to the family farm.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1959 | 18 September 1959 | 20 September 1959 | Turkey Yesilkoy | The 8th Bilderberg and the first in Turkey. 60 guests. |
