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
PresidentGermán Busch
Preceded byFelipe Manuel Rivera
Succeeded byFelipe Manuel Rivera
Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Worship
In office
22 May 1939 – 19 July 1939
Preceded byEduardo Díez de Medina
Succeeded byEduardo Díez de Medina
Personal details
Born
Dionisio Foianini Banzer

(1903-02-28)28 February 1903
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Died23 November 2001(2001-11-23) (aged 98)
SpouseDorothy Ryder
ChildrenDionisio Foianini Ryder
Parent(s)Dionisio Foianini Ioli
Carmen Banzer Aliaga
EducationUniversity 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
  1. ^ "Bicentenario de Santa Cruz". El Deber. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. ^ Dabdoub Arrien, Carlos (26 November 2001). "Dionisio Foianini, Un Digno Constructor de la "Cruceñidad"". eForo Bolivia (in European Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Historias de vida - Esteban Foianini: una familia italiana en Bolivia". Historias de vida (in Spanish). 4 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. ^ The Other Americas, Newsweek, volume 14, 1939
  5. ^ "Bolivia: Barter". Time. 22 May 1939.
  6. ^ "Bolivia: Busch Putsch". Time. 8 May 1939.
  7. ^ 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.
Political offices
Preceded by
Felipe Manuel Rivera
Minister of Mining and Petrol
1938–1939
Succeeded by
Felipe Manuel Rivera