MEMOIRS OF A FAILED DIPLOMAT –
DAN VITTORIO SEGRE
MEMOIRS OF A FAILED DIPLOMAT
Sequel to Memoirs of a Fortunate Jew
Dan Vittorio Segre
Hardback, March 2005
£18.99, 320pp, 1 870015 89 4
Migrant by necessity, cosmopolitan by choice, Dan Vittorio Segre has truly
had an extraordinary life. Memoirs of a Fortunate Jew told the story of
his childhood and adolescence: from his secular, bourgeois Jewish
upbringing to his enforced emigration to Palestine, and his sudden
awakening to the Zionist movement and his own religious convictions. Primo
Levi called it "taut and illuminating... memorable... written with
the humility of he who confesses himself and with the honesty of he who
bore witness".
The present volume continues the tale, tracing the development of Segre's
unique personality, which attracts him to ever-more eccentric and
paradoxical situations. From soldier to diplomat to soldier again, via
Palestine, Paris, Ethiopia, and Madagascar, Segre chronicles his
encounters with other remarkable characters - a chain-smoking Golda Meir;
the African leaders Tom Mboya and Julius Nyerere; Soviet diplomats and KGB
agents. Suspected of being a spy, Segre is dismissed from the Foreign
Ministry, official recognition of his innocence only coming a decade
later. By this time, however, Segre had fully embarked on new careers as a
journalist and academic. Segre's candour, irony, intelligence, and belief
are irresistible companions throughout this adventure.
Born in Italy in 1922, Dan Vittorio Segre now lives back at the family
home near Turin, pursuing his dual career as journalist and academic. He
recently helped found the Institute for Mediterranean Studies at the
Italian University of Lugano, Switzerland.
Reviews
Read a review of Memoirs of a
Failed Diplomat from the Times Literary Supplement
