Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta

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Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (October 21, 1898 - March 3, 1942) was the third Duke of Aosta and a cousin of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III. His baptismal name was Amedeo Umberto Isabella Luigi Filippo Maria Giuseppe Giovanni di Savoia. During World War II, he was the Italian Governor-General of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana).

[edit] Biography

Amedeo was born in Turin to Prince Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta (son of Amadeus I of Spain and Princess Maria Vittoria) and Princess Hélène (daughter of Prince Philippe of Orléans and the Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain). His great-grandfather was King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, making him a member of the House of Savoy. He was known from birth by the courtesy title of Duke of Apulia.

Amedeo was a very tall man. According to Amedeo Guillet he was once referred to by a journalist as "your highness", The Duke replied: "198 centimetres" (6 ft 6 in).

Amedeo was educated at Eton College and Oxford University. He cultivated British mannerisms, spoke Oxford English, and even enjoyed the pastimes of fox hunting and polo. He entered the Italian army and fought with distinction in the artillery in World War I. He left the Italian army in 1921, and travelled widely in Africa. He subsequently rejoined the Italian army and served under Marshall Rodolfo Graziani in the pacification of Libya.

In 1932, Amedeo, who had by now succeeded his father as Duke of Aosta, joined the Air Force, and became Governor of Ethiopia after the Italian conquest in 1937. After the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Aosta was made the Governor-General (and hence Commander-in-Chief) of Italian East Africa in 1940, in which capacity, he led the Italian forces in the East African Campaign the same year. He supervised the Italian conquest of British Somaliland and the subsequent defence of Italy's African Empire. Unable to counter the British counter-invasion, he surrendered at Amba Alagi near Gondar on May 18, 1941.

Shortly after his surrender, the Duke of Aosta died of tuberculosis and malaria at a prisoner-of-war camp in Nairobi, Kenya on March 3, 1942. He was succeeded by his brother, Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta.

Amedeo was well known and highly regarded for being a gentleman. In one instance, before he fled his headquarters at Addis Ababa, he wrote a note to the British to thank them in advance for protecting the women and children in the cities. Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister under Mussolini (who was also his father-in-law), paid Amadeo a high compliment in his famous diaries. Upon being given the news of the Duke's death Ciano wrote, "So dies the image of a Prince and an Italian. Simple in his ways, broad in outlook, and humane in spirit." Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was also impressed by the respect and care that the Duke of Aosta showed to the exiled Emperor's personal property left behind in Addis Ababa. In a gesture of thanks, the Emperor during his state visit to Italy in 1953 invited the widowed Duchess of Aosta to tea during his stay in Milan, but was then informed by the Italian government that receiving the Duchess would cause offense to the Republic, and so the Emperor sadly canceled the visit. Instead he invited the 5th Duke of Aosta to Ethiopia in the mid-sixties, and accorded him all the protocol due to visiting royalty.

[edit] Family

Prince Amedeo of Savoy, 3rd Duke of Aosta was married 5 November 1927 at Naples to his first wife HRH Princess Anne of Orléans (1906- 1986), daughter of Prince Jean of Orléans, styled Duc de Guise, and his cousin-wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans (herself daughter of Prince Philippe of Orléans and the Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain). By birth, the Duke and Duchess of Aosta were thus in distant remainder to the Spanish throne.

They had two daughters, both marrying royal princes:

• Margherita Isabella Maria Vittoria Emanuela Elena Gennara (born April 7, 1930). She married on 28/29 December 1953 HI & RH Archduke Robert, styled Archduke of Austria-Este (1915 - 1996), second son of the last Austrian emperor Karl I, and has issue three sons and two daughters.
• Maria Cristina Giusta Elena Giovanna (born 10 September 1933 at Miramar), who married on January 29, 1967 HRH Prince Casimiro of House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, descended from Spanish princes (of the house of Bourbon or Borbon) ruling in Sicily, and has issue two sons and two daughters.

Margherita's eldest son Lorenz, Archduke of Austria-Este is now HRH Prince Lorenz of Belgium (from 10 November 1995) by virtue of his marriage to HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium, only daughter of King Albert II of Belgium. Their two sons and three daughters are members of the Belgian Royal Family, and as such use the surname "de Belgique" or its variants.

[edit] External links

• An Online Gotha: Italy for genealogy of Amadeo and his children
• An Online Gotha: Austria for descendants of Margherita

House of Savoy Born: 21 October 1898 Died: 3 March 1942
Preceded by Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta	Duke of Aosta	Succeeded by Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta