Roberto Gaja

Roberto Gaja entered diplomacy in 1937 after studying law in Turin and serving as a cavalry officer in Libya. Posted to occupied Corsica during the Second World War, he joined the Italian troops fighting the Germans after the September 1943 armistice. He subsequently worked with Renato Prunas in the Foreign Ministry at Salerno, then served in Vienna, Trieste, Tripoli, Paris, and Sofia. ¹

His career combined administration with writing about the consequences of nuclear weapons. Under the name Roberto Guidi, he published studies of atomic power and foreign policy. He questioned a non-proliferation settlement that could permanently subordinate European states to the established nuclear powers. As political director and then secretary general, he worked on South Tyrol, relations with Yugoslavia, and European security negotiations. ¹

Gaja reached Washington in July 1975. He accompanied Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the White House on 6 December 1976, when President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger discussed Italy’s economic difficulties, energy supply, and Communist influence. Andreotti made the substantive Italian interventions. ²

After leaving Washington in March 1978, Gaja continued to write on international affairs. His later work included L’Italia nel mondo bipolare, published in 1995, alongside contributions to Affari Esteri and Il Tempo. ¹