Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi

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Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi
Born	January 29, 1873 (1873-01-29) Madrid
Died	March 18, 1933 (aged 60) Jowhar
Title	Prince of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi
Parents	Prince Amadeo, Duke of Aosta and Maria Victoria al Pozzo della Cisterna

Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi (Luigi Amedeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francesco) (January 29, 1873 – March 18, 1933), was an Italian mountaineer and explorer who made the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias (Alaska-Yukon) in 1897. He also served as an Italian admiral during World War I.

[edit] Early years and the Stella Polare expedition

Luigi Amedeo was born in Madrid, Spain the youngest son of the regining King of Spain, Amadeus I and his consort Maria Vittoria del Pozzo della Cisterna. Shortly after his birth his father who had reigned in Spain since 1870 abdicted and returned to Italy. Luigi Amedeo was a member of the House of Savoy, well known in Europe since the 12th century and a nephew of Umberto I. His cousin, Vittorio Emmanuele III became king of Italy in 1900.

From 1893 to 1896 Luigi Amedeo travelled around the world, including Eritrea, then an Italian possession, and Vancouver. He had begun to train as a mountaineer in 1882 on Monte Bianco and Monte Rosa (Italian Alps): in 1897 he made the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias (Canada/U.S., 5,489 m). There the expedition searched for a mirage that natives and prospectors witnessed seeing over a glacier of what is called the Silent City of Alaska. C. W. Thornton whom was a member of the expedition wrote, "It required no effort of the imagination to liken it to a city, but was so distinct that it required, instead, faith to believe that it was not in reality a city."^{[citation needed]}

Another witness wrote in The New York Times: "We could plainly see houses, well-defined streets, and trees. Here and there rose tall spires over huge buildings which appeared to be ancient mosques or cathedrals."

Some think the mirage is an image of Bristol, England that is 4,500 km across the pole. Its ghostly image was reported each year between June 21 and July 10.

The Stella Polare was trapped and threatened to sink. The crew were obliged to land with the utmost haste and to secure materials for building a dwelling.

In 1899 his polar expedition caused sensation. In spring he arrived in the Norwegian capital Christiania (nowadays called Oslo) together with 10 companions. The duke acquired the Jason, a whaler of 570 tons with steam engine. Under its new name Stella Polare (“Pole Star”) the ship led the expedition through the frozen sea. On June 12 they headed for Arkhangel’sk.

On June 30 the Pole Star dropped anchor in the docks of Arkhangel’sk and the duke was solemnly received by governor Engelhardt. The same day Luigi Amedeo was invited to meet the local authorities and the present foreign diplomats.

On July 7 a local newspaper wrote:

The city theatre arranged an extraordinary spectacle in the presence of the Duke of the Abruzzi. The drama The princess of Baghdad, consisting of three acts, was performed. Before the curtain was raised the orchestra had played the Italian royal anthem…

Later the duke himself wrote about his stay in Arkhangel’sk:

Our departure was set for July 12. Early in the morning the church was open to us and we, although being Catholic, were allowed to join the mass. In the afternoon all the dogs were brought back on board to their kennels. In the evening the Pole Star put out and was escorted by two steamers down the Dvina. I still remained on shore, as well as Doctor Cavalli, in order to spend the evening together with our Italian friends. Next evening we left Arkhangel’sk. During the whole journey we saw flags being hoisted to welcome us.............

[edit] Arctic expedition

In 1899 Luigi Amedeo organized an expedition towards the North Pole.

Twenty men took part in the expedition, among them Captain Umberto Cagni, Lieutenant F. Querini and Doctor A. Cavalli Molinelli. They planned to go to Franz Joseph Land, in the Arctic wilderness, to establish a camp in which to stay during wintertime and, afterwards, to reach the North Pole by dogsled across the frozen sea.

Luigi Amedeo established the winter camp on the Rudolf-Island. The expedition was to start at the end of the Arctic Night. The duke lost two fingers during winter because of the cold, which made it impossible for him to join the trip by sled. He left the command over the pole expedition to Captain Cagni. On March 11, 1900, Cagni left the camp and reached the latitude 86° 34’ on April 25, setting a new record by surpassing Nansen’s result of 1895 (35-40 kilometres). Cagni barely managed to turn back to the camp until June 23. The Stella polare on August 16 left the Rudolf-Island heading for south. On September the expedition arrived in Norway again. During the expedition the northern coast of Rudolf-Island and two other islands were explored and measured.

[edit] Late years

The East Face of K2, photographed by the Duke on his 1909 expedition

In 1906, inspired by Henry Morton Stanley's last wills, the Duke led an expedition to the Ruwenzori Range (5,125 m), in Uganda. He scaled sixteen summits in the range, including the six principal peaks. One of them, Mount Luigi di Savoia, bears his name. The highest peak was reached on June 18, 1906.

The next great expedition was in 1909, aiming to climb up the K2 in Karakorum. A team led by Luigi Amedeo reached a height of 6,666 m on the ridge in 1909. The standard route up the mountain (formerly known as K2's East Ridge) climbs today on the Abruzzi Spur.

In an attempt on Chogolisa the next year, he and his companions again failed to reach the summit, but set a world altitude record.

A vice-admiral in the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy), he was Inspector of Torpedo Craft, 1911 -1912. During World War I, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Adriatic Fleet (1914 - 1917) based in Taranto, his flagship being the Conte di Cavour.

The Explorers Club in New York elected the Duke to its highest category of membership — Honorary Member — in 1912.^{[citation needed]}

The Duke of Abruzzi died on March 18, 1933, at Jowhar some ninety kilometres north of Mogadishu (Somalia). Here he had founded the Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi, an agricultural settlement experimenting new cultivation techniques. In 1926 the colony comprised 16 villages, with 3,000 Somali and 200 Italian inhabitants.

[edit] Personal life

In the early years of the twentieth century the duke was in a relationship with Katherine Elkins, daughter of the wealthy American senator Davis Elkins, but the duke's cousin King Vittorio Emmanuele III refused him permission to marry a commoner. His brother, Emanuele Filiberto, to whom Luigi was very close to, convinced him to give up the relationship^[1]. In the later years of his life, the duke became involved with a young Somali woman named Faduma Ali. They never married.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] See also

• Luigi Island

[edit] Scientific works

• La Stella Polare nel Mare Artico 1899-1900 (1902)
• Osservazioni scientifiche, eseguite durante la spedizione polare di S.A.R. Luigi Amedeo di Savoia (1903, with Cagni and Cavalli-Molinelli)

[edit] Bibliography

• De Filippi, La spedizione di S.A.R. il principe Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, Duca degli Abruzzi, al Monte Sant’Elia (Alaska) 1897 (1900)
• Louis Amédée de Savoie (Duc des Abruzzes), Expédition de l’Étoile Polaire dans la Mer Arctique 1899-1900, Paris, coll. Polaires, Économica, 2004 (Préface de Giulia Bogliolo Bruna)

[edit] External links

• Bridges, Peter, "A Prince of Climbers", Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2000

1. ^ Aosta very ill