Francesco Maria Taliani de Marchio

Francesco Maria Taliani de Marchio was an Italian diplomat who was most notable for his role as ambassador to China (1938–1946) during World War II. In this capacity he was accredited to the Japanese puppet state of the Reorganized National Government of China, under Wang Jingwei. In 1943, he refused to pledge loyalty to the Italian Social Republic and was briefly imprisoned by the Japanese. After the war he subsequently was made first Italian ambassador to Spain (1951–1952) since the countries broke relations in 1946. Taliani was married to Archduchess Margaretha of Austria.