On January 29, 1873, Prince Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francisco di Savoia-Aosta, better known as the Duke of Abruzzi, was born. The Italian Duke’s interests were extensive. He was an arctic explorer, sailor, oceanographer, big-game hunter, topographer, geologist, botanist, zoologist, financier, and mountaineer.
Today, we examine the Duke’s mountaineering activities.
Early start
The Duke of Abruzzi was a member of the Italian Royal House of Savoy. He was born in Madrid during the short period when his father, Amadeo I, Duke of Aosta, ruled Spain (1870-1873). Shortly after his birth, his father abdicated, and the family returned to Italy. His uncle became King Umberto I of Italy in 1878, and his cousin Vittorio Emanuelle III became king in 1900.
The family lived in Turin, Italy, only 106km from Mont Blanc. His mother, Princess Marie del Pozzo della Cisterna, died when the Duke was only three years old, and the young Duke received a strict, disciplined education.
At six, he became a cabin boy and then attended a naval college. Five years later, he received his first experience on a warship. By 20, he commanded his own ship, the Volturno, to Somalia.
Francesco Denza and the Savoy siblings, including the Duke of Abruzzi. Photo: Mirella Tenderini
One year later, the Duke cruised around the world on a ship called the Christopher Columbus. The trip took two years. Much later, at 31, he captained another vessel on a three-year, round-the-world voyage.
Love for mountaineering
As a child, the Duke spent most of his summer holidays at his family’s hunting lodge in the Alps. Hiking was a popular family activity, and his aunt Margherita was an avid mountaineer. During those summers, the Duke and his siblings spent a lot of time with Friar Francesco Denza, founder of the Moncalieri Meterologic Observatory. Denza taught them science, meteorology, and geology.
Dent du Geant. Photo: Flickr
Accompanied by mountain guides and friends, including Emile Rey, one of the best climbers of that era, the Duke also began to climb in the Alps. In 1892, with Francesco Gonella, the past president of the Italian Alpine Club, he climbed Peak Levanna in Val dell’Orco. The following month, they summited several peaks in Gran Paradiso and the Mont Blanc massif.
Abruzzi also ascended 4,014m Dent du Geant, a challenging climb at the time.
The Matterhorn. Photo: Guidezone
Meeting Mummery
In 1879, Albert Frederick Mummery and guides Alexander Burgener, Augustin Gentinetta, and Johann Petrus made the first ascent of the difficult Zmutt Ridge on the Matterhorn. Mummery’s success sparked the Duke’s interest.
In the early 1890s, the Duke’s team ascended 4,357m Dent Blanche, and then 4,221m Zinalrothorn. By chance, they met Mummery, who had just opened a new route. Returning to the valley together, the Duke told Mummery he wanted to climb the Zmutt Ridge. They agreed to climb it together.
After this meeting, the Duke hurried to Monte Rosa to ascend Dufourspitze and Gnifetti. Afterward, the Duke received a telegram from Mummery asking him to head immediately to Zermatt because conditions were good for the Zmutt Ridge.
On Aug. 28, 1894, Mummery, the Duke, Norman Collie, and Joseph Pollinger summited the Matterhorn via the Zmutt Ridge.
Mount St. Elias. Photo: David Sinson
The first ascent of Mount St. Elias
In 1897, when the Duke was only 24, he organized and led an expedition to unclimbed 5,489m Mount St. Elias on the border of Alaska and the Yukon.
Storms from the nearby Gulf of Alaska pound Mount St. Elias almost incessantly. Nevertheless, on July 31, the Duke and his partners (including the renowned Italian photographer and alpinist Vittorio Sella) made the first ascent. The second ascent came 48 years later!
The weather-beaten Duke after his return from Mount Saint Elias. Photo: Mirella Tenderini
Ruwenzori
In 1904, the Duke was in Honolulu when the news arrived that Henry Morton Stanley had died. The newspaper reporting Stanley’s death included a quote from a speech Stanley gave in 1901 at the Royal Geographic Society: “I hope that a man dedicated to his work, a passionate mountaineer, will take Ruwenzori into consideration and study it, explore it from top to bottom, crossing its enormous ridges and deep corridors.”
The Ruwenzori range. Photo: Geography.name
The Duke’s next goal was clear: to climb the Ruwenzori Mountains in eastern equatorial Africa. The highest peak in the glaciated Ruwenzori is 5,109m. Ruwenzori means King of the Clouds, and this range was believed to be the mysterious Mountains of the Moon mentioned by the ancient Greeks.
In 1906, the Duke organized an expedition that climbed 16 mountains in the range, including the highest peak. Ten Ruwenzori peaks surpass 4,800m. The highest are Mt. Margherita (5,109m) and Mt. Alexandra (5,105m), both named by the Duke. Afterward, the energetic Duke made a map of the Ruwenzori range.
Crossing the Baltoro in 1909. Photo: Vittorio Sella
Attempt on K2
In 1909, the Duke organized an expedition to then-unclimbed K2. At 8,611m, it was the second-highest mountain in the world.
The first party to attempt K2 was a British-Austrian expedition led by Oskar Eckenstein in 1902. That group tried to ascend the northeast ridge but only made it to 6,000m.
The Duke’s team marked the second attempt.
After making an exhaustive plan and a long approach trek, they finally reached the mountain and tried twice. First, they attempted the Southeast Spur and made it to 6,200m. Today, this route is called the Abruzzi Spur and has become K2’s normal route.
They also attempted the Northwest Ridge, reaching 6,644m.
K2 in 1909. Photo: Vittorio Sella
Chogolisa
After K2, the Duke headed to unclimbed 7,665m Chogolisa, one of the most beautiful mountains in the Karakoram. On Chogolisa, the Duke and two partners reached 7,498m, a record height at the time. Bad weather, poor visibility, and deep snow prevented them from summiting.
Vittorio Sella’s book, Mountain Photographs (1879-1909), has a beautiful collection of images from these expeditions.
Chogolisa. Photo: Ralf Dujmovits
Somalia
The Duke did not have an easy life. His forbidden love with Katherine Elkins (he was not allowed to marry her because she came from a lower class) and many other complicated circumstances weren’t easy to manage.
After losing several climbing partners and some of his family over the years, he retired to Italian Somaliland. Nobody could convince the Duke to stay in Italy.
“I prefer that the fantasies of Somali women intertwine around my grave rather than the hypocrisy of civilized men,” the Duke said.
The Duke died at age 60 on March 18, 1933, in Jowhar, Somalia.
For more on his expeditions and life, we recommend The Duke of the Abruzzi: An Explorer’s Life by Mirella Tenderini and Michael Shandrick.
Katherine Elkins. The Italian king did not permit the Duke to marry her because she was not of royal birth. Photo: Picryl
The 100th anniversary
In 2009, a group of climbers attempted K2 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Duke’s expedition. A fantastic film was made about their attempt.
The documentary K2: Siren of the Himalayas by Dave Olson can be viewed for free on YouTube. It stars Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Jake Meyer, Chris Szymiec, Ralf Dujmovits, and David Goettler, among others. The 1909 expedition is well presented, with original photos and fragments of the Duke’s expedition report.
You can view the film below.
