Sergio VENTO

H.E. the Ambassador of Italy to the United States of America

His Excellency Sergio Vento, Ambassador of Italy to the United States of America, has presented his credentials to the President of the United States
and assumed the functions of Ambassador of Italy to the United States of
America on May 8, 2003. A career member of Italy's Senior Foreign Service,
prior to this assignment, Mr. Vento served as Permanent Representative of
Italy to the United Nations since December 1999. From 1995 to 1999 he served
as Ambassador of Italy to France. Previously, from 1992 to 1995, Mr.Vento
was Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Italy, serving also as Italy's
Representative to the Halifax (1995) and Lyon (1996) Summits of the G7.
Appointed Chief of Mission to Yugoslavia with the rank of Ambassador (1989-
1992), he was confirmed in the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary in 1991. Mr. Vento began his career in the diplomatic service
in 1963 at the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, where he served for
four years. He was posted to The Hague in 1967 and remained there until
1970, initially in the rank of Second Secretary and later that of First Secretary.
From 1970 to 1972, he was Consul in Buenos Aires and from 1972 to 1975,
Counselor in Ankara. In 1975, he returned to Rome to head the Bureau for the
Near East and North Africa in the Ministry's Political Directorate. From 1979 to
1984, he was Deputy Permanent Representative to the European
Organization for Cooperation and Development (OCDE) in Paris. He served as
Head of the Bureau for Multilateral Economic Institutions in the Economic
Directorate from 1985 until 1987 when he was appointed Diplomatic Advisor to
the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. In 1988 he entered the
senior foreign service in the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary I. Mr. Vento was
born on May 30, 1938, and holds a degree in Political Science from the University
of Rome. He and his wife, Maria Magdalena (Magda) Zelent, have two children.