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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Ralph R. Papitto, certify that:

      1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Lynch
      Corporation;

      2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
      untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
      necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under
      which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
      covered by this quarterly report;

      3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
      material respects the financial condition, results of operation and cash
      flows of the Registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      quarterly report;

      4. The Registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)), (inapplicable
      language intentionally omitted) for the Registrant and have:

      (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

      (b)   [Intentionally omitted];

      (c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
            requirements and procedures and presented in this report our
            conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
            procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based
            on such evaluation; and

      (d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            Registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            Registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

      5.    The Registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
            based on our most recent evaluation, to the Registrant's auditors
            and the audit committee of Registrant's board of directors (or
            persons performing the equivalent function);

      (a)   All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
            adversely affect the Registrant's ability to record, process,
            summarize and report financial information; and

      (b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the Registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting.

Date: May 11, 2004                          /s/  Ralph R. Papitto
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                                           RALPH R. PAPITTO
                                           Chairman and Chief Executive Officer