Jean Monnet

Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (November 9, 1888 – March 16, 1979) is regarded by many as the architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.

His marriage

In August 1929 during a dinner party in Paris, 41 years old Monnet met 22 years old Italian painter Silvia Giannini (née Bondini in 1907). She had recently wed the 6th April 1929 Francisco Giannini, an employee of Monnet as he was a representative of Blair and Company in Italy.

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In April 1931, Silvia had a child, Anna. Legally the father was Francisco Giannini.

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Divorce was not allowed in France and many other European countries. In 1934, Silvia and Jean Monnet met in Moscow; he comming from China with the Trans-Siberian, she from Switzerland. He arrange for Silvia to obtain Soviet citizenship; immediately divorsed her husband and married Jean Monnet.

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The idea for the Moscow marriage came from Dr. Ludwik Rajchman that he met during his time at the League of Nations; Rajchman new Bogomolov Soviet Ambassador to China. It seems that the American and French ambassadors in Moscow, William Bullitt and Charles Aiphand also played a role.

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The custody of Anna was a problem; in 1935 Silvia with Anna took refuge in the Soviet Embassy in Shangai, where they were living at the time. As Francisco Giannini tried to obtain custody. The legal battle continued with a ruling in favour of Silvia in 1937 in New York, but not recognized in some other countries. The Monnet family only came back to France 1945. In 1941, they had another child, Marianne.

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After the death of Francisco Giannini in 1974, they married cannonically in cathedral of Lourdes; both were very catholic.

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