Luigi Amedeo, Principe di Savoia

Luigi Amedeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francesco di Savoia was an Italian admiral, explorer and mountaineer, and a cousin of the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III. In just over a decade, between 1897 and 1909, he completed several expeditions that made him internationally famous. These included the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias, in Alaska, in 1897; an expedition to the North Pole in 1900 (aboard the Stella Polare ship), which reached the most northern latitude at the time; exploring the African Ruwenzori Massif in 1906, and the ascent of its major peaks; and a 1909 expedition to Karakorum, where he had a failed attempt to ascend K2 and set the new world altitude record.

Prince Luigi Amedeo then undertook agricultural reclamation along the Uebi Scebeli river valley in Somalia, during which, in his last exploration, in 1928, he discovered the river’s source. He died in March 1933 in the village of Duca degli Abruzzi (today Johar), in Somalia, without children. According to his wishes, he was buried there, on the banks of the Uebi Scebeli river.

After his death, the Italian Royal Navy named a cruiser in his memory. The National Museum of the Mountains of Torino, considered among the world’s most important institutions in mountaineering, was dedicated by the CAI to the Duke of Abruzzi. In 1906 he received Olympic Diploma of Merit No. 5.