The ANNOTICO
Report
Mr. Castaldi, the son of an Italian father and a Baltimorean
mother, spoke five languages. Born in Guarda
Veneta, Italy,
he attended school in Milan,
where one of his classmates was composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Mr. Castaldi, however, was an athlete who played tennis
competitively and played hockey on the Italian national team.
Hired by IBM
founder Thomas J. Watson Sr. before the start of World War II, Mr. Castaldi worked for the company in Italy until he
was recruited into the Italian army's Alpine Corps. He defected to join the
anti-Nazi partisans in Yugoslavia,
then returned to Italy
and worked closely with the Americans in securing major Italian businesses as
the Allies advanced north.
After the war
ended, Mr. Castaldi came to the United States, working as a salesman for IBM in Newark,
He then returned to Europe and eventually became vice president of IBM World
Trade Corp., based in Paris.
He also was general manager and president of IBM Italy.
Mr. Castaldi retired in 1972 and opened a consulting firm in Washington. He also
served on President Jimmy Carter's Commission on World Hunger and for many
years indulged his passion for entomology working as a senior docent at the
Smithsonian Institution.
LOUIS
CASTALDI, 95; Chief of IBM Operations in Europe
in the '50s, '60s
By Patricia
Sullivan
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Louis Castaldi, 95, who led IBM operations in Europe during the
1950s and 1960s, died of congestive heart failure Aug. 22 at the HF Bar Ranch
in Saddlestring,
Wyo., where he was vacationing.
He lived in Washington and Castleton,
Va.
Mr. Castaldi, the son of an Italian father and a Baltimorean
mother, spoke five languages. Born in Guarda
Veneta, Italy,
he attended school in Milan,
where one of his classmates was composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Mr. Castaldi, however, was an athlete who played tennis
competitively and played hockey on the Italian national team.
Hired by IBM
founder Thomas J. Watson Sr. before the start of World War II, Mr. Castaldi worked for the company in Italy until he
was recruited into the Italian army's Alpine Corps. He defected to join the
anti-Nazi partisans in Yugoslavia,
then returned to Italy
and worked closely with the Americans in securing major Italian businesses as
the Allies advanced north.
After the war
ended, Mr. Castaldi came to the United States, working as a salesman for IBM in Newark, where he was made
a member of the company's elite sales group, the 100 Percent Club. He then
returned to Europe and eventually became vice president of IBM World Trade
Corp., based in Paris.
He also was general manager and president of IBM Italy.
In the 1950s, Mr.
Castaldi helped IBM prepare its 10 European factories
for the opening of the Common Market. The production of electric typewriters,
once built at five plants, would be consolidated into two. The Amsterdam
plant would specialize in medium-size computers, and card-punching and verifying
machines would be built in Stuttgart and West
Berlin in West Germany.
The streamlining of production was something of a wager because, at the time,
no one knew how businesses would react to buying foreign-made goods that had
previously been made in their own country.
"I am
convinced that national pride will not be a stumbling block to our
specialization," Mr. Castaldi told the Wall
Street Journal. "We feel that in the Common Market, people are beginning
to think on a broader scale; they are becoming less chauvinistic."
Mr. Castaldi retired in 1972 and opened a consulting firm in Washington. He also
served on President Jimmy Carter's Commission on World Hunger and for many
years indulged his passion for entomology working as a senior docent at the
Smithsonian Institution.
His family
described him as an affable storyteller with an inexhaustible sense of humor.
His first wife,
Nora Mueller, died in 1947. His second wife, of 24 years, Nanda Castaldi, died in 1978.
Survivors include
his companion, Nancy Lehew of Front Royal, Va.; two sons from his second marriage, Charles Castaldi of Santa Monica, Calif., and Peter Castaldi of New York; four
grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.