Stanton Griffis | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Spain | |
| In office March 1, 1951 – January 28, 1952 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Paul T. Culbertson (as chargé d'affaires) |
| Succeeded by | Lincoln MacVeagh |
| United States Ambassador to Argentina | |
| In office November 17, 1949 – September 23, 1950 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | James Cabell Bruce |
| Succeeded by | Ellsworth Bunker |
| United States Ambassador to Egypt | |
| In office September 2, 1948 – March 18, 1949 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman |
| Preceded by | Somerville Pinkney Tuck |
| Succeeded by | Jefferson Caffery |
| United States Ambassador to Poland | |
| 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 | May 2, 1887 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | August 29, 1974 (aged 87) [1] Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States |
| Spouse(s) |
Dorothea Nixon
(m. 1912; div. 1937)[1] Elizabeth Blakemore
(m. 1973; died 1974) |
| 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 from Cornell University in 1910. 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 of Brentano's in 1933.[3] He also helped the Atlas Corporation manage Madison Square Garden. Griffis was named a trustee of Cornell in 1930 and led Paramount 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 the Office of War Information, between 1943 and 1944. In a subsequent two-month stint as diplomatic representative, Griffis tried to dissuade Swedish manufacturers of ball bearings from exporting to Germany. Upon his return to the United States, Griffis was named leader of the American Red Cross in the Asia-Pacific. For aiding the World War II war effort, he received the Medal for Merit and the Medal of Freedom.[2][1]
Griffis was appointed the United States Ambassador to Poland in May 1947 by President Harry 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'affaires Paul T. Culbertson as ambassador to Spain in 1951. Before leaving Spain in January 1952, Griffis was awarded the Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III.[2][1]
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.