Emile Despres (21 September 1909 – 23 April 1973) served as an advisor on German Economic Affairs at the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, 1944–1945. He was also a professor of economics at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Background

Emile Despres was born on September 21, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. His father was Emile Despres. His mother was Irma Rosenthal. His first cousin was

Leon Despres Leon Mathis Despres (February 2, 1908 – May 6, 2009) was an American author, attorney and politician. He was best known as a long-time alderman in Chicago, where he regularly disagreed with then-mayor Richard J. Daley, often engaging in loud a ...

. Upon his father's death, his mother married William J. Mack. He attended schools in Chicago and the Riverdale Country School in New York. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

magna cum laude in 1930.

Career

Upon graduation, Despres went to work for the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

as a special foreign exchange analyst. He established a system for monitoring the volatile international flows of short-term capital during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. He supported expansionary policy. He was among the advisors who early warned that

Hjalmar Schacht Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht (); 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970) was a German economist, banker, politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the ...

's system of exchange controls would help Germany carry through economic recovery and military rearmament without suffering a balance of payments collapse. In 1937, Despres returned to Harvard as a consultant in the Graduate School Public Administration. In 1939, Despres served as Economic Advisor to the chairman of the board of the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

. In 1941, he became a member of the Board of Analysts and a director in the economic division, as well as alternate member of the Joint Intelligence Staff in the U.S. Joint Chiefs Staff and

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

. In 1944, he became advisor on German Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In 1945, he became a member of the American delegation to the Potsdam Conference. In the summer of 1948, he worked on the Economic Cooperation Administration in Paris. In the summer of 1951, he served in the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade in economic aid to Yugoslavia. From 1955 to 1956, he served as a fiscal and monetary advisor to the Pakistan Planning Board. From 1946 to 1961, Despres was a professor of economics at

. From 1961 to 1973, he was a professor of economics at

. From 1967 to 1968, he was a visiting research professor at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

McCarthyism

In July 1947, Despres vouched for the loyalty of Carl Marzani, convicted for concealing Communist Party membership in his application for Government employment. In August 1947, Despres again "testified emphatically" for Marzani's loyalty before the

House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

. During the McCarthy era, Despres was among a number of Federal employees alleged to be sources of information to the communist underground, including

Lauchlin Currie Lauchlin Bernard Currie (8 October 1902 – 23 December 1993) was a Canadian economist best known for being President Franklin Roosevelt's chief economic advisor during World War II. After Roosevelt's death, he led the first World Bank survey ...

Harry Dexter White Harry Dexter White (October 29, 1892 – August 16, 1948) was an American government official in the United States Department of the Treasury. Working closely with the secretary of the treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., he helped set American financia ...

, V. Frank Coe, Robert C. Barnard, George A. Eddy, William Ludwig Ullman,

Harold Glasser Harold Glasser (November 24, 1905 – November 16, 1992) was an economist in the United States Department of the Treasury and spokesman on the affairs of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) 'throughout its whole ...

, Solomon Adler, and William Henry Taylor. Allegations were never substantiated.

Personal and death

Despres married Joanna Hitt Eakin in 1939 and had three children: Lani, John, and Charles. The Despres Family built the home later purchased by

Eric Sevareid Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed " Murr ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. Despres died in

Portola Valley, California Portola Valley is an incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Portola Valley is a small, wealthy com ...

, on April 23, 1973.

References

Sources

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Collection of works by Emile Despres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Despres, Emile Despres, Emile Despres, Emile Harvard University alumni Riverdale Country School alumni Stanford University faculty United States Department of State officials Williams College faculty