George Venable Allen (November 3, 1903 – July 11, 1970) was a United States

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He served as ambassador to Iran during the crisis of 1946 and was involved in managing US relations amid the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He was involved in expanding activities of the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

, exporting culture and increasing US participation in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Early life and career

Born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, son of a merchant Thomas Ellis Allen and Harriet Moore, he attended

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

—then known as Trinity College—graduating in 1924 and 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 ...

in 1929. He worked briefly as a high school teacher between 1924 and 1928 and as a newspaper reporter for the ''Asheville Times'' and ''Durham Herald''. He joined the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

in 1930 working first as vice consul in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

and later in

Shanghai, China Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

;

Patras, Greece Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

; and

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Iran from 1946 to 1948. During this period he worked on preventing a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

oil agreement and led to the Iranian prime minister

Ahmad Qavam Ahmad Qavam (2 January 1873 – 23 July 1955; ), also known as Qavam os-Saltaneh (), was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran five times. Early life Qavam was born in 1873 to the prominent Iranian Qavam family. His un ...

dropping communist cabinet members. He also helped build ties with Shah

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

, playing weekly tennis matches with the monarch. He served as

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV ser ...

from 1948 to 1949, U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1949 to 1953,

United States Ambassador to India The United States ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. ambassador's office is situated at the Embassy of the United States, New Delhi, U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. On March 15, 2023, Eri ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

1953–1954. While in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

he, along with

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

, supported India's rival

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

with military support as a deterrent against Soviet relations with India. He then served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs from 1953 to 1954, U.S. Ambassador to Greece 1956–1957, and Director of the

U.S. Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

from 1957 to 1960. In 1960, Allen was named

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the president and confirmation by the United States Sen ...

. Allen was president of the

Tobacco Institute The Tobacco Institute, Inc. was a United States tobacco industry trade group, founded in 1958 by the American tobacco industry. It was dissolved in 1998 as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.The Tobacco Institute's headquarters were ...

from 1960 to 1966. He defended the tobacco industry as early reports of links between cigarette smoking and cancer began to emerge. In 1966, Allen returned to the

State Department 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 ...

as the Director of the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for members of the U.S. foreign service community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...

. He retired in 1968.

Personal life

Despite working in the private sector from 1960-1966, Allen remained involved in foreign affairs. From 1961-1962, Allen was on the Committee on Foreign Affairs Personnel which was involved in Cold War anticommunism. He was also the President of Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR) in April of 1964. Allen appeared as himself, while serving as the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, on the February 6, 1967 episode of the game show ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

''. He deceived none, receiving all four votes from the panel. He married Katharine Martin in 1934, author of a self-published book on their lives overseas, ''Foreign Service Diary.'' They had three children, George V. Allen, Jr., John M. Allen and Richard A. Allen, all lawyers in Washington, D.C. He died at

Bahama, North Carolina Bahama ( ) is an unincorporated community, North Carolina, unincorporated community in northern Durham County, North Carolina, United States. History Prior to European colonization, the present location of Bahama and the surrounding upper Neuse R ...

and is interred in

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...

in Washington D.C.

Notes

External links

George V. Allen Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, George Venable Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University alumni People from Durham, North Carolina 1903 births 1970 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to India Ambassadors of the United States to Iran Ambassadors of the United States to Nepal United States Information Agency directors Ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia 20th-century American diplomats United States career ambassadors United States assistant secretaries of state Assistant secretaries of state for African affairs