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Silvio O. Conte

American politician from Massachusetts (born 1921)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ2286846 ↗
Source-derived summary

Silvio Ottavio Conte (November 9, 1921 – February 8, 1991) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for 16 terms, representing the 1st congressional district of Massachusetts from January 3, 1959, until his death in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1991. He strongly supported legislation to protect the environment, as well as federal funding of medical and scientific research.

Early life and education

Conte was born to parents who were Italian immigrants in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He attended local public schools, including Pittsfield Vocational High School, graduating in 1940 and later worked as a machinist and pressman. He served as a construction mechanic in the United States Navy SeaBees during World War II from 1942 to 1944.

After the war, Conte went on to college, graduating from Boston College and Boston College Law School under the G. I. Bill of Rights. He was a member of the Boston College Eagles football and basketball teams. He earned his law degree (LL.B.) in 1949 and passed the Massachusetts bar.

He married Corinne Duvall in 1948 and they had four children together.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Silvio O. Conte” is american politician from Massachusetts (born 1921). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Silvio, Conte and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1921, 1991, 1959, 1940—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1921-11-09. For this dossier, Silvio, Conte and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american politician from Massachusetts (born 1921)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2286846. VIAF identifies the subject as 30356613. The Library of Congress control number is n94073601. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1921, 1991, 1959 and 1940.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Silvio O. Conte”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Silvio O. Conte primary sources, Silvio O. Conte archive and Silvio research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Silvio O. Conte”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Silvio O. Conte” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.