George Blowers
| George Blowers | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 5, 1906 Pineville, Kentucky |
| Died | October 19, 1969 (aged 63) Hempstead, Long Island, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Institutions | Bank of Monrovia, State Bank of Ethiopia, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
George Blowers (March 5, 1906 – October 19, 1969) was an American banker. A Harvard graduate, he became governor of the state banks of Liberia, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia. During his career he was responsible for introducing two new currencies and represented Ethiopia at the Bretton Woods Conference.
Born on March 5, 1906 in Pineville, Kentucky, Blowers graduated from Harvard University before gaining a job at the National City Bank in New York City in 1928. In 1938 he became general manager of the Bank of Monrovia in Liberia, during which time he was responsible for changing the country's currency from the British West African pound (pegged to the Pound Sterling) to the Liberian dollar (pegged to the US dollar). The Smithsonian Institution's 1940 National Zoological Park expedition to Monrovia met with Blowers and he presented his household pets, a red forest duiker, a civet cat and a linsang, to them for use as zoo exhibits. British Foreign Office staff writing to Anthony Eden in March 1942 noted that Blowers adhered strictly to the American policy of neutrality, opposing attempts to enforce British control of capital in Liberia. Blowers, who could speak German, was known to have transferred German funds through Liberia to the United States.
Blowers was appointed governor of the State Bank of Ethiopia in 1943 following a request by Emperor Haile Selassie for more American advisers to replace the British staff that predominated in his court. The 1942 Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement required Selassie to seek British approval prior to the appointment of any foreign staff. The British were not informed of the new appointments and the arrival of Blowers in Ethiopia came as something of an embarrassment to his British predecessor, who was still in post. Ethiopia formally renounced the treaty with Britain in 1944.
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