Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta

Contents

Prince Emanuele Filiberto Vittorio Eugenio Alberto Genova Giuseppe Maria di Savoia, 2nd Duke of Aosta (Spanish: Manuel Filiberto; 13 January 1869 – 4 July 1931) was an Italian general and member of the House of Savoy, as the son of Amadeo I, and was also a cousin of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Filiberto was also commander of the Italian Third Army during World War I, which earned him the title of the "Undefeated Duke". After the war he became a Marshal of Italy.

Biography

He was born in Genoa, the eldest son of Prince Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta (second son of King Vittorio Emanuele II) and his first wife Donna Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo della Cisterna. In 1870, Amadeo was elected King of Spain, but abdicated and returned to Italy in 1873. Amadeo died in 1890, and Emanuele Filiberto succeeded as Duke of Aosta.

He began his career in the Italian Army at Naples, in 1905, as commander. During World War I, he commanded the Italian Third Army, which gained the nickname of Armata invitta ("undefeated army"). Following the war he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy by Benito Mussolini in 1926.

Prince Emanuele Filiberto died in 1931 at Turin. In accordance and observance of his will, he was buried in the military cemetery of Redipuglia, together with thousands of soldiers of the Third Army.

Named after him were:

  • the Duke of Aosta Bridge in Rome, completed in 1942
  • a bridge on the Piave at Jesolo, inaugurated in 1927
  • a street in Rome
  • the cruiser Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, which was given to the Soviet Union after World War II

Family and children

He was married on 25 June 1895 to Princess Hélène of Orléans (1871–1951). She was a daughter of Prince Philippe of Orléans and the Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain.

They had two sons:

Honours and awards

  • Kingdom of Italy:
  • Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1895[1]; Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1899[2]
  • Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Black Eagle, 17 May 1893[3]
  • Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 1 June 1897[4]
  • Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Seraphim, 18 September 1897[5]
  • United Kingdom: Stranger Knight Companion of the Garter, 15 July 1902[6]
  • Kingdom of Saxony: Knight of the Rue Crown[7]
  • Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 28 December 1923[8]

Ancestry

References

  1. 1."A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 2.Boettger, T. F. "Chevaliers de la Toisón d'Or - Knights of the Golden Fleece". La Confrérie Amicale. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. 3."Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.) (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 5 – via hathitrust.org
  4. 4.Royal Thai Government Gazette (19 September 1897). "พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ที่ประเทศยุโรป" (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  5. 5.Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1905, p. 441, retrieved 2018-01-06 – via runeberg.org
  6. 6."No. 27454". The London Gazette. 15 July 1902. p. 4509.
  7. 7.Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha (1913) p. 49
  8. 8.Spanish Government Gazette (1930). "Guía oficial de España". Guía oficial de España (in Spanish): 221. Retrieved 2020-08-23.