Dionisio Foianini Banzer (28 February 1903 – 23 November 2001)[1] was a Bolivian politician and businessman from Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He was one of the founders of YPFB in 1937.[2][3]
Dionisio Foianini | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Mining and Petrol | |
| In office 12 August 1938 – 23 August 1939 | |
| President | Germán Busch |
| Preceded by | Felipe Manuel Rivera |
| Succeeded by | Felipe Manuel Rivera |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship | |
| In office 22 May 1939 – 19 July 1939 | |
| Preceded by | Eduardo Díez de Medina |
| Succeeded by | Eduardo Díez de Medina |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dionisio Foianini Banzer 28 February 1903 Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia |
| Died | 23 November 2001 (aged 98) |
| Spouse | Dorothy Ryder |
| Children | Dionisio Foianini Ryder |
| Parent(s) | Dionisio Foianini Ioli Carmen Banzer Aliaga |
| Education | University of Pavia |
The son of an Italian father, Dionisio Foianini Ioli, and a Bolivian mother, Carmen Banzer Aliaga, he grew up in central Bolivia not far from most of Standard Oil's Bolivian fields. After studying pharmacy in Italy, where he came to admire Benito Mussolini's fascism,[4] Foianini returned to Bolivia before the Chaco War broke out and was put in charge of munitions manufacture. During the war, he went on a secret mission to Argentina and organized Bolivian espionage behind Paraguayan lines. When the war ended, Foianini organized the nationalization of the Standard Oil fields and set up a State Petroleum Board.[5] After Germán Busch organized a coup in 1937, Foianini became Minister of Mines and Petroleum in Busch's Cabinet.[6][7]
The area called Dionisio Foianini Triangle on the border with Paraguay and Brazil is named after him. Puerto Busch, which is named after Germán Busch, is located in the triangle.
References
edit- ^ "Bicentenario de Santa Cruz". El Deber. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ Dabdoub Arrien, Carlos (26 November 2001). "Dionisio Foianini, Un Digno Constructor de la "Cruceñidad"". eForo Bolivia (in European Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "Historias de vida - Esteban Foianini: una familia italiana en Bolivia". Historias de vida (in Spanish). 4 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ The Other Americas, Newsweek, volume 14, 1939
- ^ "Bolivia: Barter". Time. 22 May 1939.
- ^ "Bolivia: Busch Putsch". Time. 8 May 1939.
- ^ Waszkis, Helmut (2001). Dr. Moritz (Don Mauricio) Hochschild, 1881-1965: The Man and His Companies : a German Jewish Mining Entrepreneur in South America. Vervuert. ISBN 978-84-8489-002-7.