Friendly Showman

The newest U.S. envoy to Latin America is urbane, white-haired Irving Florman, 53, a New York inventor and manufacturer, whose appointment as ambassador to Bolivia was announced in Washington last week by President Truman.

No career diplomat, Florman is president of the Cleevelandt Corp., manufacturers of scientific and mechanical devices. Born in Poland, naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1917, he has traveled widely but has never been to South America. His only previous contact with diplomacy has been rather remote: he designed an ornate lighter which President Roosevelt gave to Premier Joseph Stalin at Yalta.

The new ambassador has contrived such varied aids to modern life as self-winding watches, shock absorbers and mine-detecting devices; but his greatest love is the theater. Leaning back behind his cluttered desk in Manhattan this week, he spoke enthusiastically of his longtime friendship with impresarios Morris Gest and David Belasco.

Though he is regretfully aware that the legitimate theater of La Paz has less to offer than that of New York, Florman looks forward to his new job. "I was thrilled . . . when I got the appointment," he said this week. "The friendship between our two countries has been continuous. I shall do my best to keep it so."

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