Umberto II, King of Italy

• en.wikipedia.org... ;
• Umberto II King of Italy (more...)
• Reign 9 May 1946 - 12 June 1946
• Full name : Italian: Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia
• Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II (15 September 1904 – 18 March 1983), was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May (Italian: Re di Maggio)

Biography

• Umberto was born at the Castle of Racconigi in Piedmont. He was the third child, and the only son, of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro.
• Umberto was married in Rome on 8 January 1930 to Marie José of Belgium (1906–2001).

They had four children ;

1. Maria Pia (born 1934),
   
2. Vittorio Emanuele (born 1937),
   
3. Maria Gabriella (born 1940),
   
4. Maria Beatrice (born 1943).
   

Career as Prince of Piedmont

• The Prince of Piedmont was educated to a military career and in time became the commander in chief of the Northern Armies, and then of the Southern ones. However, his role was merely formal, the de facto command belonging to Benito Mussolini. By mutual agreement, Umberto and Mussolini always kept a distance.

State visit to South America, 1924

• As Prince of Piedmont, Umberto visited South America, between July and September of 1924. With his preceptor, Bonaldi, he went to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. This trip was part of the political plan of fascism to link the Italian people living outside of Italy with their mother country and the interests of the regime.
• In Brazil, he could not be received by President Arthur Bernardes because the capital of the country in that period, Rio de Janeiro, wasn't safe enough after the conclusion of the Revolta tenentista de 1924, when some junior military officials tried to overthrow Federal government. In São Paulo, the richest and most important state of the country, the rebels dominated the government for some days. Under these conditions, Brazil could receive the Principe only in Bahia, the richest state of the North, at its capital Salvador. On his 20th birthday, Umberto was in Bahia. At that time, the Governor of Bahia was Góis Calmon. All the authorities of state and the members of the Italian colony in the city were very happy and proud about the visit of the Prince. The Prince was accompanied on that trip by Minister of Foreign Affairs Felix Pacheco and the Italian ambassador in Brazil, Pietro Badoglio.
• An attempted assassination of the Prince took place in Brussels on 24 October 1929, the day of the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie José. The Prince was about to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Belgian Unknown Soldier at the foot of the Congreskolom. With a cry of 'Down with Mussolini!' the culprit, Fernando de Rosa, fired a single shot that missed the Prince of Piedmont. De Rosa was arrested and under interrogation claimed to be a member of the Second International. The Prince and the Princess of Piedmont in 1930.
• It has been conjectured that Mussolini had collected a secret dossier on Umberto, but this folder (which is said to have been found after the dictator was shot), was never seen publicly.
• Following the Savoyards' tradition ("Only one Savoy reigns at a time"), he kept apart from active politics until he was finally named Lieutenant General of the Realm. Only in one case, while he was in Germany for a royal wedding, did he make an exception —Adolf Hitler asked for a meeting. This action was not considered proper, given the international situation, and afterwards Umberto was even more rigorously excluded from political events.
• On 29 October 1942, Umberto was awarded the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia).
• In 1943, the Crown Princess Maria José, the daughter of King Albert I of Belgium, involved herself in vain attempts to arrange a separate peace treaty between Italy and the United States, and her interlocutor from the Vatican was Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, a senior diplomat who later became Pope Paul VI. Her attempts were not sponsored by the king and Umberto was not (directly, at least) involved in them. After her failure–she never met the American agents–she was sent with her children to Sarre, in Aosta Valley, and isolated from the political life of the Royal House.

Private Life

• Umberto and Maria José separated in exile; it was an arranged marriage, following a long tradition of royal families.
• Some academics[1] have explored Umberto's possible homosexuality. As early as the 1920s, Mussolini had collected a dossier on his private life for purposes of blackmail. Certainly during the war, newspapers asserted that Umberto was homosexual, and information continued to be spread in the lead-up to the post-war referendum on the monarchy in the hope of influencing the outcome. It is, however, unclear to what extent such rumours could be substantiated. Umberto's custom of giving a fleur-de-lis made of precious stones to favoured young officials in his entourage was well known, and Umberto's lovers may have included Luchino Visconti and Jean Marais;[2] as a former army lieutenant who published details of Umberto's advances to him.[3] Except for public appearances, Umberto and Maria Jose generally lived apart.

In exile

• King Umberto lived for 37 years in exile, in Cascais in Portugal. He was a popular old gentleman, nicknamed "Europe's grandfather", seen at many of Europe's royal weddings.[citation needed] He never set foot in his native land again; the 1947 constitution of the Italian Republic not only forbade the restoration of the monarchy, but until 2002 barred all male heirs to the defunct Italian throne from ever returning to Italian soil. Female members of the Savoy family were not barred except consort queens.
• Umberto traveled extensively during exile, and was often to be seen in Mexico visiting his daughter, and in the company of friends like Commendatore Flavio Mansi Tazzer.
• President Sandro Pertini wanted Umberto to be allowed to return to his native country by the Italian parliament when he was dying in 1983. Ultimately, however, he died in Geneva and was interred in Hautecombe Abbey. No representative of the Italian government attended his funeral.

read more.....

Umberto II (15. syyskuuta 1904–18. maaliskuuta 1983) oli viimeinen Italian kuningas hiukan yli kuukauden ajan 9. toukokuuta 1946–12. kesäkuuta 1946.[1] (Lempinimeltään Re di Maggio, toukokuun kuningas.)

Piemonten prinssiksi syntynyt Umberto nai 1930 Marie-José Charlotte Sophie Amélie Henriette Gabriellen, Belgian Albert I:n tyttären. He saivat neljä lasta.

Syrjäytettyään Benito Mussolinin 1943, kuningas Viktor Emanuel III antoi perustuslaillisen valtansa pojalleen Umbertolle ja matkusti Egyptiin. Hänen isänsä luopui vallasta vain muutamaa viikkoa ennen kansaäänestystä monarkiasta ja Umberto hallitsi 35 päivää.[1] Kun monarkia päätettiin virallisesti, Umberto lähti Italiasta lopulliseen maanpakoon Sveitsiin ja Portugaliin.

Pääministeri Alcide De Gasperi otti aseman maan väliaikaisena johtajana. Italian vuoden 1947 perustuslaki kielsi kuningassuvun miespuolisia jälkeläisiä enää saapumasta maahan.

Maanpaossa Umberto erosi järjestetystä avioliitostaan ja aloitti playboyn elämän. Yksikään Italian hallituksen edustaja ei osallistunut hänen hautajaisiinsa.