Prince Aimone | |||||
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Duke of Aosta; Duke of Spoleto | |||||
King of Croatia (disputed) as Tomislav II |
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Reign | 18 May 1941 – 31 July 1943 | ||||
Predecessor |
Peter II (King of Yugoslavia) |
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Successor |
Ante Pavelić (Poglavnik of Croatia) |
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Prime Minister | Ante Pavelić | ||||
Born |
Turin, Italy |
9 March 1900||||
Died | 29 January 1948 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
(aged 47)||||
Burial | Basilica of Superga | ||||
Spouse | Irene of Greece and Denmark | ||||
Issue | Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta | ||||
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House | Savoy-Aosta | ||||
Father | Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta | ||||
Mother | Hélène of Orléans | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Full name | |
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Italian: Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino of Savoy-Aosta |
Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino; 9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948) was a prince of Italy's reigning House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. The second son of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta he was granted the title Duke of Spoleto on 22 September 1904. He inherited the title Duke of Aosta on 3 March 1942 following the death of his brother Prince Amedeo, in a British prisoner of war camp in Nairobi.
From 18 May 1941 to 31 July 1943 he was designated king of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) though he never ruled there. He formally accepted the position and took the name Tomislav II (Croatian pronunciation: [tǒmislaʋ drûɡiː]), after the first Croatian king. Later however he refused to assume the kingship in protest at the Italian annexation of the Dalmatia region, and is therefore referred to in some sources as king designate. Regardless, many sources refer to him as Tomislav II King of Croatia and the nominal head of the NDH during its first two years (1941–1943). After the dismissal of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, the prince abdicated on 31 July as king on the orders of Victor Emmanuel III.
Prince Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino of Savoy-Aosta was born in Turin the second son of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (eldest son of Prince Amedeo, 1st Duke of Aosta (and sometime "King Amadeo I of Spain") by his wife, née Vittoria dal Pozzo, Principessa della Cisterna) and Princess Hélène of Orléans (daughter of Philippe, comte de Paris and Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans). As his patrilinal great-grandfather was King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, he is a member of the House of Savoy.