Born in 1911. He graduated in Business and Economics from the Bocconi University in 1931 and was assistant professor to Giorgio Mortara, Chair of Statistics, from 1933 to 1936. In the latter year he joined the Bank of Italy's Economic Research Department, which he headed from 1945 until 1956. He was a member of the Economic Commission chaired by Giovanni Demaria at the Ministry for the Constituent Assembly.

He was Economic Advisor of the Bank of Italy and of the Bank for International Settlements from 1956 until 1960 and visiting professor of International Economics in 1959-60 at Cornell University (Ithaca, USA).

He then became Director General of the Bank of Italy in August 1960 and Governor from July 1975 until September 1979. He was Governor Emeritus of the Bank of Italy.

From 1970 until 1979 he was Professor of Monetary History and Politics at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Rome. In 1972 he became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and was President of the Italian Society of Economists from 1980 to 1982.

From 1975 he was a board member of the Bank for International Settlements, becoming Vice-Chairman in 1988. Died in 1989.