George Venable Allen (November 3, 1903 – July 11, 1970) was a United States diplomat. He served as ambassador to Iran during the crisis of 1946 and was involved in managing US relations amid the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He was involved in expanding activities of the Voice of America, exporting culture and increasing US participation in the UNESCO.
Early life and career
Born in Durham, North Carolina, son of a merchant Thomas Ellis Allen and Harriet Moore, he attended Duke University—then known as Trinity College—graduating in 1924[1] and from Harvard University in 1929.[2] He worked briefly as a high school teacher between 1924 and 1928 and as a newspaper reporter for the Asheville Times and Durham Herald.
Allen was president of the Tobacco Institute from 1960 to 1966.[5][6][7] He defended the tobacco industry as early reports of links between cigarette smoking and cancer began to emerge.[8]
Allen appeared as himself, while serving as the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, on the February 6, 1967 episode of the game show To Tell the Truth. He deceived none, receiving all four votes from the panel.[10]
He married Katharine Martin in 1934, author of a self-published book on their lives overseas, Foreign Service Diary.[11] They had three children, George V. Allen, Jr., John M. Allen and Richard A. Allen, all lawyers in Washington, D.C. He died at Bahama, North Carolina and is interred in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C.[citation needed]