Ezio Mizzan
Ezio Mizzan (right) and American actor Kirk Douglas at an informal dinner at Prince and Princess Sanidh Rangsit, Thailand in 1964
Italian Ambassador to Thailand
In office
24 February 1959 – 21 August 1965
Preceded byGuelfo Zamboni
Succeeded byAndrea Ferrero
Italian Ambassador to Pakistan
In office
23 August 1966 – 26 March 1969
Preceded byLuca Dainelli
Succeeded byFranco Bounous
Italian Ambassador to China (chargé)
In office
November 1950 – December 1951
Preceded bySergio Fenoaltea
Succeeded byAntonino Restivo
Personal details
Born(1905-01-12)12 January 1905
Trieste, Austria-Hungary
Died26 March 1969(1969-03-26) (aged 64)[1]
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
NationalityItalian
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1935)​
Children1
Awards

Ezio Mizzan (12 January 1905 – 26 March 1969) was an Italian diplomat. After graduating in law in Rome, Mizzan started his career at the Farnesina. He was sent as consul to Rio and Annaba, and acted as a diplomat in the Italian Embassies in Bucharest, Brussels, Berlin and Paris. In the middle of 1946 he was sent to China, where he was initially appointed consul of Hankou. Mizzan lived firsthand the advent of Communism in China, where he remained, as first secretary of the Italian embassy and the de facto leader of diplomatic relations, after the Italian ambassador fled to Italy in 1950.

In 1951, fearing political repercussions for Italy and for the lives of the Italian diplomats in China, who were still stationed in Nanjing, China's former capital and the claimed capital of the Republic of China, he advised Italy to make a firm choice, either formally recognizing China, and thence moving him to Beijing, China's new capital, or breaking all relations and moving all diplomats out. Italy chose to dismantle the embassy and Mizzan left for Hong Kong at the end of 1951. He then became the second Italian Ambassador to Thailand (1959-1965) and the ninth Italian Ambassador to Pakistan (1966-1969).

Biography

Ezio Mizzan was born in Trieste, now Italy, at the time under Austro-Hungarian rule, on 12 January 1905,[2] to Giovanni, a pharmacist, and Gilda Rovis,[2] into an Italian family originally from Pisino, Istria.[3][4]

After graduating from the University of Rome, he pursued his studies abroad, and in 1932 started his career as a diplomat.[3][4] He was employed for short periods of time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, where he was later employed to solve the problems relating to the Julian March.[3] Mizzan was sent as consul to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and later became Italian consul in Annaba, Algeria. He then worked as a diplomat at the Italian Embassies in Bucharest, Brussels, Berlin and Paris.[3] In 1941 he was the Italian consul of Wrocław (then known as Breslau).[5]

In the middle of 1946 he was sent to China, and was appointed consul of Hankou.[3] Mizzan arrived in China at 41, and went on to become the first secretary (Primo Segretario di Legazione)[6][7] of the Italian Embassy in Nanjing.[3][8][9] In China, Mizzan lived firsthand the advent of Communism. He was the "highest Italian functionary in China among those who, among thousands difficulties, resisted and held their place after the outbreak of the war in Korea, albeit without recognition from Beijing."[8][7] Mizzan found himself in the lead of the diplomatic relations between Italy and China after the Italian ambassador fled to Italy in 1950.[10][8] He and the other functionaries weren't recognized and weren't given privileged status by the Chinese authorities, who considered them simply foreign citizens, if not "spies from hostile foreign governments".[6] Neither the functionaries nor their belongings nor the embassy buildings were given the privileged status normally acknowledged to diplomats.[10][8] After the outbreak of the war in Korea, tension arose. His position and the other diplomats' became uncomfortable, and the Italian state, after Mizzan's advice and the following consultation of former Italian ambassadors and scholars, decided to proceed with the burning of the archives containing political correspondence in Shanghai.[10] As reported in a telegram sent by Mizzan to Rome in October 1950, the absence of immunity might've put him and his colleagues in an uncomfortable position, should they be caught unawares. The archives included correspondence from 1929 to 1943, and older one, and constituted "a cumbersome reminder of the past."[10]

In September of that year, seven foreign citizens were accused of plotting against the new Chinese government and arrested by the Communists. Among them were two Italians, the bishops Tarcisio Martina and Antonio Riva, the latter of whom was condemned to death after a summary trial, and executed by firing squad in August 1951.[6]

In January 1950 Mizzan wrote a laconic message in English, entrusting it to the British, since they were the only ones to have a radio to communicate out of China.[11] In February 1951 he reported from Nanjing that in the absence of formal Italian recognition of Communist China, his permanence in China's old capital, and the claimed capital of the Republic of China, might create inconveniences of political nature, beside putting his and the other diplomats' lives at risk.[10] He advised Palazzo Chigi to make a firm choice, either proceeding with the formal recognition, thus moving him to Beijing, the new capital, or breaking all relationships with China, moving all diplomats out.[10] As Italy wavered over the decision, Mizzan telegraphed that the communist police was restricting ever more his activity and movements.[10] Italy initially leaned towards recognition, led by Sforza, who was sentimentally bond to China.[12] In February, Rome prepared a telegram in which Carlo Sforza recognized China, and expressed his willingness to establish diplomatic relations, asking Zhou Enlai to turn to Mizzan as head of diplomatic relations ad interim.[12] However, as McCarthy made his speech in February 1950, it emerged that the United Kingdom, and later the Netherlands, didn't gain much from recognizing China, and the United States, after initially showing support,[12] advised Italy that recognizing China wasn't a good idea,[12] Italy chose to avoid recognition, and finally proceeded with the closure of the office.[10] Mizzan barely managed to obtain a visa out of China, while Italy telegraphed that the archives should be sent to Shanghai, when possible, or otherwise burned.[10] In December 1951 he finally reached Hong Kong.[10] With the recalling of Mizzan, Italy's chargé d'affaires in China, the collapsing diplomatic network between Italy and China definitively ended in 1952.[6]

He then became Counsellor of the Italian Embassy in New Delhi.[3] On 24 February 1959[13] he became Ambassador of Italy to Thailand, holding this post until August 1965.[13] He left Bangkok on 21 August 1965.[13] He was then named Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan, while the latter was under the rule of Field Marshal Ayub Khan.[14] Mizzan was received in Karachi by the Pakistani authorities.[15] He held this post until his death, on 26 March 1969.

Mizzan was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the Italian State on 2 June 1965.[16]

Marriage and progeny

On 6 February 1935 he married Enrica Galluppi di Cirella. The marriage produced offspring. The couple eventually split and his ex-wife later remarried to Bonifacio Marquess of Canossa, Count of Canossa and Lord of Grezzano.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "DIPLOMATICI CESSATI DAL SERVIZIO Dal 2 giugno 1946 al 1 aprile 2004". La penna del diplomatico. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 Who's who in Italy Volume 1. Intercontinental Book & Publishing. 1958. p. 640.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "LACRIME D' ESILIO - foto". L'Arena di Pola. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Foreign Affairs Bulletin". Foreign Affairs Bulletin. Vol. 1. Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1961. pp. 67–79.
  5. ↑ Ponzio, Alessio (2015). Shaping the New Man Youth Training Regimes in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-299-30584-0.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Beltrame, Stefano (2019). Breve storia degli italiani in Cina. Luiss. pp. 44, 240. ISBN 978-88-6105-390-8.
  7. 1 2 Moccia, Vincenzo (2014). La Cina di Ciano. libreriauniversitaria.it. pp. 155–160. ISBN 978-8-862-92514-3.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "NANCHINO, APRILE 1952: DAI RAPPORTI RISERVATI DEL NOSTRO 'AMBASCIATORE' MIZZAN". Limes. 3 January 1995. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "STEFANO BELTRAME E LA SUA "BREVE STORIA DEGLI ITALIANI IN CINA"". diplosor.wordpress.com. 23 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >Storia & Diplomazia: Rassegna dell'Archivio Storico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri (PDF). Vol. I, no. 2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. December 2013. pp. 40–43 https://www.bv.ipzs.it/bv-pdf/0061/MOD-BP-13-081-023_2168_1.pdf. Retrieved 14 April 2021. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ Bernardo, Angela (2007). Nuova storia contemporanea Volume 11, Issues 1-3. Le Lettere. p. 63.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Pini, Mario Filippo (2011). Italia e Cina, 60 anni tra passato e futuro. L'asino d'oro. pp. 67–73. ISBN 978-88-6443-063-8.
  13. 1 2 3 Foreign Affairs Bulletin Volume 5. Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1965. p. 103.
  14. ↑ List of the Diplomatic Corps and Consular, Trade & Other Foreign Representatives. Government of Pakistan Press. 1969. pp. 2, 56.
  15. ↑ Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan Volume 19, Issues 12-25. Pakistan Herald Publications. 1967. p. 39.
  16. ↑ "Mizzan Sig. Ezio". Presidenza della Repubblica. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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