Update on Federico Pucci

Since my first post (published on March 12, 2017), it has now been over 8 years since I began exploring Federico Pucci’s work! And more than 95 years (!) since Federico Pucci embarked on his journey as an absolute pioneer of machine translation as we know it today.

Across more than 30 posts written so far, I’ve always tried to cross-reference all the information, sometimes without success, but most often succeeding, though some details proved elusive! Such was the case with the registered letter addressed to Truman, which Pucci mentions in his first letter to the Italian CNR:

I sent these publications by registered mail to the President of the United States, hoping to receive support for the construction of electro-translators.

Until yesterday, I had never been able to verify this information! I’ll spare you the details of a long, fruitless search, until I directly contacted the Truman Presidential Library, which finally responded, confirming they had indeed received correspondence from a certain Frederic (sic!) Pucci :

Transcription :

Pucci, Frederic, Sede centrale in Salerno, Piazza Malta 3, Italy, 6/13/49. Received 7/25/49. Writer refers to previous correspondence in which he submitted a booklet wich translates Italian into every language. Now has a booklet wich translates French. Calls same the electric translation.

Naturally, this new finding opens up new research avenues, as I had been searching for “Federico Pucci” when it seems I should have been looking for “Frederic Pucci”...

Several details emerge from this snippet:

1. Pucci sent his second registered letter on June 13, and it was received on July 25, 1949.
2. Regarding his first letter, we’d need to check the dates of the earlier submission.
3. The mention of “electric translation” perfectly aligns with Pucci’s message to the CNR (electro-translator)...

*

Two United Press dispatches from 1949 are where this story begins! The timeline is crucial:

• The first, from around May 31, 1949 (traced in several newspapers, not just American, in early June 1949), announces the construction at the University of California, Los Angeles, of an “electric brain” by the Bureau of Standards, capable of translating foreign languages. Twenty mathematicians and technicians, led by Dr. Harry Huskey, perfected a machine that, in its final form, would be barely larger than a kitchen cabinet...
• The second, dated August 26, 1949, is the origin of this entire story... 

In his letter to the CNR, Pucci adds to the previously quoted sentence: “About twenty days later, I read the announcement mentioned above in the newspaper.”

This suggests that around May 10, 1949, he sent his first letter to the U.S. presidency requesting funding for his invention. On May 31, he read this announcement in an Italian newspaper (unspecified): 

“Surprising Inventions”: Los Angeles, 5/31/1949 

Mr. Harry Huskey, a researcher at the Institute for Analytical Calculations, announced the invention of an electric brain capable of translating foreign languages. Regarding the device’s operation, initially used for mathematical research, the scientist stated: To successfully translate languages, they must be input into the machine. The Naval Research Service has already allocated a considerable sum to build the brain. Mr. Huskey is confident in the proper functioning of his marvelous machine, which will produce a literal, word-for-word translation, leaving it to the user to interpret the meaning. The electric brain will be tested within a year at the latest.

On June 13, Pucci sent his second registered letter to Truman. On August 26, 1949, the United Press dispatch announced Federico Pucci’s invention, 20 years after its first public presentation (December 1929!).

2029 will mark the centenary of Pucci’s creation of what should be considered the first rule-based machine translation method in history!

I sincerely hope that, by then, someone will finally recognize Pucci’s primacy in machine translation, as he continues to be completely overlooked, both in his lifetime and after his death!

P.S. Here are some traces of the first dispatch:

Nassau Daily Review - Star (June 1, 1949)

Manchester Evening Herald (May 31, 1949)

The same dispatch was fully reprinted in October 1949 by The Office Worker:

I wanted to highlight this version because it was included in a column titled “Food for Thought,” which concluded as follows:

This announcement gives food for thought to the workers in our trade in Canada and the United States, who must awake to a realization of the fact that they are living in a mechanized and highly organized world in which their chances of survival and progress increasingly depend on...

The dispatch indeed announced the possibility that the machine might eventually replace less skilled workers... 75 years later, I’d say we’re there, aren’t we?