Prince Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo
Prince Adalberto | |||||
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Duke of Bergamo | |||||
Born | Turin | 19 March 1898||||
Died | 15 December 1982 Turin | (aged 84)||||
Burial | |||||
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House | House of Savoy (Genoa branch) | ||||
Father | Thomas, 2nd Duke of Genoa | ||||
Mother | Princess Isabella of Bavaria |
Prince Adalberto of Savoy, Duke of Bergamo (Adalberto Luitpoldo Elena Giuseppe Maria) (19 March 1898 – 15 December 1982) was an Italian General and a member of the Genoa branch of the House of Savoy.[1] Born in Turin, Prince Adalberto was the fourth son of Prince Thomas of Savoy, Duke of Genoa and his wife Princess Isabella of Bavaria (1863–1924). On 22 September 1904 he was given the title Duke of Bergamo.
Prince Adalberto pursued a career in the Royal Italian Army, achieving the rank of General. He fought in the First World War on the Montello in October 1917 and in Vallagarina in February 1918. In 1936 he commanded the Italian 24 Infantry Division Gran Sasso during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and later the 58th Infantry Division Legnano.
When Italy joined World War II, he became commander of the Italian 8th Army (1940–1942), and in 1943 of the 7th Army. Benito Mussolini used the Prince's secret homosexuality against him to ensure the loyalty of the Prince as well as other LGBT members of the House of Savoy to the Fascist Party.[2]
After the war he lived quietly and mostly anonymously, and settled in a villa on the property of his friend, Gertrud Kiefer von Raffler (the widow of Massimo Olivetti, son of Camillo Olivetti), where he died in 1982.
Ancestry[]
showAncestors of Prince Adalberto, Duke of Bergamo |
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References[]
- ^ staff. "Bergamo, Adalberto Leopoldo Elena Giuseppe". generals.dk. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ Sarfatti, Margherita (2014). My Fault: Mussolini as I Knew Him. Enigma Books. p. 195.
- 1898 births
- 1982 deaths
- Military personnel from Turin
- Italian princes
- Burials at the Basilica of Superga
- Italian generals
- Italian military personnel of World War I
- Italian military personnel of World War II
- Nobility from Turin
- LGBT people from Italy
- Gay military personnel