Guido di Tella

Guido di Tella (June 12, 1931 – December 31, 2001) was an Argentine businessman, academic and diplomat who served as minister of foreign affairs.

Life and times Guido José Mario di Tella was born in Buenos Aires in 1931. His father, Torcuato di Tella, was an Italian Argentine industrialist who founded Siam di Tella, a company that manufactured industrial machinery and household appliances.

Early career Guido lost his father at age 17 and, following his father's wishes, studied engineering at the University of Buenos Aires with the aim of managing the family business, which employed around 5,000 people. He became involved in politics and co-founded the Christian Democratic Party of Argentina in 1954. After graduating in 1955, he pursued a PhD in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completing it in 1959. He married Nelly Ruvira, and they had five children.

After returning to Argentina, he co-founded the Torcuato di Tella Institute with his brother Torcuato, establishing it as an educational and cultural foundation. By this time, Guido di Tella had become a supporter of Peronism, an uncommon stance among members of Argentina's upper class. He believed that overcoming class-based prejudice against the largely working-class Peronist movement was necessary for Argentina to become, in his words, a “serious country.” He taught at the University of Buenos Aires and the Catholic University of Argentina, and helped develop the Di Tella Institute into a major supporter of avant-garde art in Argentina during the 1960s. His continued support for Perón led to a brief expulsion from Argentina in the early 1970s. During this period, he was a visiting fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford.

Later life Di Tella retired from public service with the change of administrations in December 1999, on which occasion he was made an honorary fellow of St. Antony's (a rare distinction). He visited the Falkland Islands as an ordinary citizen (a concession he had obtained for Argentine nationals while Foreign Minister), in October 2000, and was warmly received. Secluded in his estancia outside Navarro, Buenos Aires, di Tella suffered a stroke on New Year's Eve, 2001, dying at age 70. He was survived by his widow, Nelly, and his five children.