Charles Merville SpoffordCBE (November 17, 1902 – March 23, 1991) was an American lawyer who held posts inNATO and on the boards of numerous arts organizations.[1]
Charles Merville Spofford was born November 17, 1902, inSt. Louis, the son of Charles W. Spofford and the former Beulah Merville, and grew up inEvanston, Illinois.[2] He graduatedPhi Beta Kappa fromYale University in 1924, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones, andHarvard Law School in 1928.[3][1] He married Margaret Mercer Walker on March 22, 1930, with whom he had four children.[4][1]
He joined the New York law firmDavis Polk & Wardwell in 1930 and became a partner in 1940, retiring in 1973 after 33 years.[1] He proposed toJohn D. Rockefeller III what would become theLincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1956 and served as president of theMetropolitan Opera Association from 1946 to 1950.[1]
He served in theUS Army duringWorld War II, rising to the rank ofbrigadier general. With his financial background and experience as a lawyer, along with his ability to speak French, he was assigned to Allied Force Headquarters inAlgiers as an advisor on economic and supply issues.[5] In 1943, he became Chief of Staff of the Allied Military Government and Deputy Chief of Civil Affairs for Sicily and Italy.[5] In 1944, he was named Assistant Chief of Staff for Military Government for the whole Mediterranean theater.[5] Wallace Deuel, a reporter for theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch, remarked that he had to deal with "some of the most flamboyantly temperamental men of a dozen nationalities the world has ever seen;General George Patton,Field MarshallBernard Montgomery andGeneral Charles de Gaulle, just to name a few examples, and he got excellent results".[5] He earned thePurple Heart,Distinguished Service Medal,Legion of Honor,Croix de Guerre andOrder of the British Empire.[1][6]
From 1950 to 1952 he served in NATO as a deputy US representative to theNorth Atlantic Council and later he was chair of the Council of Deputies and chair of the European Coordinating Committee.[7][1]
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