The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti: IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down Production of the World’s First Desktop Computer

Biographer Secrest (Elsa Schiaparelli) reveals a little-known slice of computer history in her fascinating account of the Italian typewriter company Olivetti, which created the first desktop computer. The company’s story largely centers on its three leaders: first, Camillo Olivetti, then his son, Adriano; and finally Adriano’s son, Roberto. Each led a fascinating life; Camillo was an inventor and Socialist politician, while Adriano, named company director in 1933, plotted to oust Mussolini during WWII with Princess Marie José Charlotte, future queen of Italy. Following the war, Adriano founded a literary journal and his own Socialist political party, all while steering Olivetti toward ever-greater success and renown. (Günter Grass, Cormac McCarthy, and Gore Vidal all used Olivetti typewriters, Secrest notes.) Roberto, meanwhile, inaugurated Olivetti’s electronics division, which began developing the Programma 101, the first desktop computer, in 1962, two years after Adriano’s fatal heart attack. From here, the story takes a dark and bizarre turn, as Secrest speculates he may in fact have been murdered, perhaps by the CIA to prevent him transferring technology to the Soviets and Chinese. Whether one buys into this conspiracy theory, Secrest offers a riveting look at an ambitious and inventive family deserving wider attention. (Nov.)