Ghioldi, Américo (1899–1985)

Américo Ghioldi (b. 23 May 1899; d. March 1985), Argentine Socialist councilman, congressman, and party leader. Born in Buenos Aires, Ghioldi was a secondary school teacher, university professor, and prominent figure in Argentina's Socialist Party. He had joined the party by the early 1920s, and was elected, at the age of twenty-five, to the city council of Buenos Aires, where he served for five years. Following the course of a number of his council colleagues, he served three terms as national deputy from Buenos Aires (1932–1936, 1936–1940, 1940–1943). In Congress, Ghioldi was a leading member of the Socialist opposition to the conservative majority, noted especially for spearheading the struggle against what was considered undue concessions to foreign capital and interests in the 1930s.

Like most Socialist congressmen, Ghioldi concurrently held important positions in the party hierarchy, including editor of the Socialists' main newspaper, La Vanguardia, as well as of other publications. In the 1940s and thereafter, Ghioldi became one of the loudest Socialist voices in opposition to the regime of Juan Perón (1946–1955), publishing a number of books critical of Peronism. In the late 1970s, in a controversial decision, he accepted an appointment from the military government of General Jorge Videla (1976–1980) as Argentina's ambassador to Portugal.

See alsoArgentina, Political Parties: Socialist Party .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Camarero, Hernán, and Carlos-Miguel Herrera. El Partido Socialista en Argentina: Sociedad, política e ideas a través de un siglo. Buenos Aires: Prometeo, 2005.

Consigli, Raquel E. Breve historia del Partido Socialista Argentino, 1893–1943. Córdoba, Argentina: Prosopis Editora, 2004.

                                   Richard J. Walter