V. Sanguineti, 89; Italian Trade Official Based in L.A. 28 Years

Vittorio Sanguineti, 89, the Italian trade commissioner in Los Angeles for more than 25 years, died Tuesday in Rome of unstated causes.

The son of an Italian diplomat, Sanguineti was born in Russia and grew up moving among several countries, becoming fluent in six languages. He earned a degree in political science and economics from the University of Rome, and became adept at promoting commercial goods.

Sanguineti was first appointed to the Los Angeles office of the Italian Foreign Trade Institute in 1954 and remained until 1982, rising to dean of the city’s international foreign trade community. He was the first foreign government representative to receive a Man of the Year Award from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce world trade committee.

Sanguineti also was a guest lecturer in business administration at UCLA.

The diplomat, who also served in New Orleans and Detroit, helped introduce and popularize Italian products in the U.S. market, particularly in the Western states where they had not been widely sold. Among them were wines, foodstuffs and designer clothing.