Stanton Griffis | |
|---|---|
| 45thUnited States Ambassador toSpain | |
| In office March 1, 1951 – January 28, 1952 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Norman Armour |
| Succeeded by | Lincoln MacVeagh |
| 30thUnited States Ambassador toArgentina | |
| In office November 17, 1949 – September 23, 1950 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | James Cabell Bruce |
| Succeeded by | Ellsworth Bunker |
| United States Ambassador toEgypt | |
| In office September 2, 1948 – March 18, 1949 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Somerville Pinkney Tuck |
| Succeeded by | Jefferson Caffery |
| United States Ambassador toPoland | |
| In office July 9, 1947 – April 21, 1948 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Arthur Bliss Lane |
| Succeeded by | Waldemar J. Gallman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1887-05-02)May 2, 1887 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 1974(1974-08-29) (aged 87)[1] Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | [1] [1] [1] |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
Stanton Griffis (May 2, 1887 – August 29, 1974) was an American businessman and diplomat.
Born in Boston, he earned a bachelor's degree fromCornell University in 1910. He headed to Jackson County, Oregon, enticed by the "orchard boom" in the Rogue River Valley.
Griffis began his business career in 1919 after serving the Army General Staff with the rank of captain during World War I.[2][1] While with Hemphill, Noyes & Co., Griffis financed Adolf Kroch's acquisition ofBrentano's in 1933.[3] He also helped theAtlas Corporation manageMadison Square Garden. Griffis was named a trustee of Cornell in 1930 and ledParamount Pictures from 1935 to 1942. He became involved with diplomacy and non-governmental organizations during World War II, serving as special envoy to several western European nations from 1942 to 1943, and directing the Motion Picture Bureau, a division of theOffice of War Information, between 1943 and 1944. In a subsequent two-month stint as diplomatic representative, Griffis tried to dissuade Swedish manufacturers ofball bearings from exporting toGermany. Upon his return to the United States, Griffis was named leader of theAmerican Red Cross in the Asia-Pacific. For aiding the World War II war effort, he received theMedal for Merit and theMedal of Freedom.[2][1]
Griffis was appointed the United States Ambassador to Poland in May 1947 by PresidentHarry S. Truman. Griffis stepped down in April 1948 and was named ambassador to Egypt shortly thereafter, serving until March 1949. Truman named Griffis ambassador to Argentina later that year. He remained in that position until 1950, and succeeded chargé d'affairesPaul T. Culbertson as ambassador to Spain in 1951. Before leaving Spain in January 1952, Griffis was awarded the Knight of the Grand Cross of theOrder of Charles III.[2][1]
Stanton Griffis was the second child born toWilliam Elliot Griffis. He had an elder sister Lillian, and a younger brotherJohn Elliot Griffis, a composer.[4] Stanton Griffis' marriage to Dorothea Nixon began in 1912 and ended in 1937, after a divorce. His second marriage, to actressWhitney Bourne, was his shortest. Griffis married Elizabeth Blakemore in 1973.[1] His son, Nixon Griffis, and daughter, Theodora Griffis Latouche, both worked for Hemphill, Noyes & Co. for a time. Theodora died of cancer at the age of 40, in 1956.[5] Stanton Griffis died in 1974 of pneumonia while being treated for burns and smoke inhalation atLenox Hill Hospital.[1] After selling Brentano's to theCrowell-Collier Publishing Company, Nixon left his business career and became a conservationist. Nixon Griffis died in 1993, aged 76.[6]
Brentano's, Inc., the international book-selling firm, passed into the hands of Adolf Kroch, of Chicago, one of the largest book dealers in the country, at a bankruptcy sale yesterday. The Bretano family, it is understood, still be identified with the firm in executive capacities, and the business is to carry on in much the same way as in the past, according to Mr. Kroch. [T]he desire of the creditors, most of whom were publishers, to see the business go to another book-dealer who had been twenty-five years in the business and who had strong financial backing, had influenced his decision. This financial backing, it was learned later, came from Stanton Griffis, a partner in the firm Hemphill, Noyes & Co.
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| Chargé d'Affaires | | |
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| Minister Resident | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ministers Plenipotentiary to Spain (1779–1825) | |
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| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain (1825–1913) | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Spain (1913–present) | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
