Antonio Chiaramonte Bordonaro (26 February 1877 – 8 June 1932) was an Italian diplomat. He was born to a noble Sicilian family, owner of the Castle of Falconara, on the Gulf of Gela, in

Butera Butera ( Sicilian: ''Vutera'') is an Italian town and commune in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the communes of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It is located from ...

. He graduated from the School of Social Science of the Istituto Cesare Alfieri in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1898 and joined the Italian diplomatic service the following year. He was a lover of Franca Florio. In 1900 he was posted to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, then to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. In 1913, he was sent to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

as legation secretary and was promoted to advisor to the embassy in 1914. On January 4, 1920, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. In 1924, he was appointed Italian envoy to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. On April 6, 1926, following Salvatore Contarini's resignation, Chiaramonte Bordonaro was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the most important position in Italian diplomacy. He held the office for only ten months, until it was abolished by the Fascist government. On February 6, 1927, Bordonaro was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom. He died in office on June 8, 1932. He was appointed Grand Cross of the Czechoslovak

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion () is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia having no civilian decoration for its citizens in the 192 ...

in 1924 and an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1930.

References

* ''La Formazione della diplomazia nazionale (1861-1915) : repertorio bio-bibliografico dei funzionari del Ministero degli affari esteri''. Rome: Istituto poligrafico e zecca dello Stato. 1987. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiaramonte Bordonaro, Antonio Diplomats for Italy 1877 births 1932 deaths Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Ambassadors of Italy to Austria Ambassadors of Italy to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Italy to Czechoslovakia