''Don'' Guido Colonna dei principi di Paliano (16 April 1908 – 27 January 1982) was an Italian diplomat and European Commissioner.

Early life

Guido Colonna di Paliano was born on 16 April 1908 into the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

, from the branch of the Princes of Paliano and the sub-branch of the Princes of Summonte. He was the seventh child, and fourth son, of '' Don'' Stefano Colonna, dei principi di Paliano (1870–1948) and Maria Dorotea Cianciulli (1875–1942). His elder brother, Carlo, succeeded their uncle as 5th Prince of Summonte in 1956. His sister, ''Donna'' Giovanna Colonna, was the wife of Count Gerardo Giuseppe Dentice di Frasso (a son of Prince Luigi Dentice di Frasso). His paternal grandfather was Don Edoardo Colonna, 3rd Prince of Summonte. The diplomat and Italian ambassador to London during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Marquess Guglielmo Imperiali (1858–1944), was the husband of his paternal aunt. Through his mother, he was a descendant of Michelangelo, Marquess Cianciulli (1734-1819), a jurist and Minister of Justice of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, famous for settling the bill of law abolishing feudalism in that Kingdom. Guido Colonna graduated with a degree in law in 1930 from the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

Career

Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Guido Colonna served in America as Italy's vice-consul to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1934 to 1937 and then to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

from 1937 to 1939. From 1939 to 1940 he was secretary of the Italian embassy in

Cairo 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 ...

. After the war, he was Secretary-General of the Italian delegation at the Marshall Plan negotiations (October 1947-March 1948), then Deputy Secretary-General of the

Organisation for European Economic Co-operation The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum whose member countries ...

(10 May 1948-July 1956). In 1956, he was appointed deputy general director for political affairs in the Italian foreign affairs ministry. He was promoted to the rank of minister on 20 October 1957. From December 1958 to July 1962, he was the Italian ambassador to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, succeeding Paolo Vita Finzi. He was deputy secretary general of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

from 1962 to 1964. On 30 July 1964, he succeeded Giuseppe Caron as European Commissioner for Internal Market & Services in the second

Hallstein Commission The Hallstein Commission is the European Commission that held office from 7 January 1958 to 30 June 1967. Its president was Walter Hallstein and held two separate mandates. Work It was the first commission on the European Economic Community an ...

and he remained in the succeeding

Rey Commission The Rey Commission is the European Commission that held office from 2 July 1967 to 30 June 1970. Its president was Jean Rey. Work It was the first commission of the merged European Communities. It was the successor to the Hallstein Commissio ...

of 1967 as Industry Commissioner until his resignation in May 1970 just before the commission's term of office expired. His resignation from the Rey Commission and the subsequent delay in appointing a successor confirmed reports that the Member States would not renew Rey's mandate which expired at the end of June 1970. After the end of his political career, Guido Colonna di Paliano returned to the private sector as President of the Italian department store chain

La Rinascente ; ) is a high-end Italian department store chain that operates nine stores in Italy, including two flagship locations in Milan ( Piazza del Duomo) and Rome (Via del Tritone). The company was a member of the International Association of Depar ...

. He also became a member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

Personal life

On 8 June 1938 in New York, Colonna, then Italian vice consul at Toronto, married Tatiana Conus, daughter of Julius Conus (Yúlij Eduárdovič Konyús), a Russian pianist and composer of French origin, and of Princess Maria Alexandrovna Lieven. She was born in Moscow on 1 December 1916 and died in Milan on 29 July 2009. They had three children: * ''Don'' Piero Colonna (b. 1938), who was born in Toronto. * ''Don'' Stefano Colonna (b. 1940), who was born in Cairo. * ''Donna'' Maria Cristina Colonna (b. 1941), who was born in Stockholm and married Count Patrice de Vogüé in Paris in 1967. He was a descendant of the diplomat and archaeologist Melchior de Vogüé and owner of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, a famous historical French château which he received from his father on the day of his marriage. Tatiana Colonna and her children are the subjects of a story told by Italian writer

Curzio Malaparte Curzio Malaparte (; born Kurt Erich Suckert; 9 June 1898 – 19 July 1957) was an Italian writer, filmmaker, war correspondent and diplomat. Malaparte is best known outside Italy due to his works '' Kaputt'' (1944) and '' The Skin'' (1949). The ...

in his war novel '' Kaputt'' (published in 1944): she cures them of their fear of birds, brought on by their association with a sparrow trapped in their bedroom with the bombings they have experienced in Naples.Robert G. Walker, Malaparte and Literary Strangeness: a Critical Preface to ''Kaputt'': >

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonna di Paliano, Guido 1908 births 1982 deaths 20th-century diplomats Giuseppe Paliano Diplomats from Naples Italian European commissioners Nobility from Naples Secretaries general of NATO Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany European commissioners (1967–1970)