Abruzzi, << ah BROOT tsee, >> Duke of the (1873-1933), Luigi Amadeo, Prince of Savoia-Aosta, was a Spanish-born Italian explorer, mountain climber, and naval officer. He led an expedition in 1899 to 1900 that got closer to the North Pole than any previous expedition. Abruzzi also made journeys of exploration to North America, Africa, and Asia.
Abruzzi was born in Madrid, Spain, on Jan. 29, 1873. He was raised in Turin, Italy. He was the son of King Amadeo of Spain and the grandson of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. In 1897, Abruzzi became the first person to climb Mount Saint Elias, in Alaska. At a height of 18,008 feet (5,489 meters), Mount Saint Elias is one of the highest mountains in North America.
In 1899, Abruzzi and his crew sailed to Franz Josef Land, an Arctic island group north of Russia, in the ship Stella Polare (Pole Star). His team intended to travel by dog sled over the Arctic ice to the North Pole. Abruzzi was unable to complete the journey because of frostbite. A member of Abruzzi’s crew, Umberto Cagni, took over the leadership and traveled to 86° north latitude, closer than anybody had ever gotten to the North Pole.
Abruzzi led a mountaineering expedition in 1906 to the Ruwenzori Range in east-central Africa. He climbed and named the range’s highest peak, Margherita Peak, which rises 16,762 feet (5,109 meters) above sea level. In 1909, Abruzzi led an expedition to the Himalaya. There, he climbed 20,500 (6,248 meters) feet up Mount Godwin Austen (also called K2). At 28,250 feet (8,611 meters), K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest.
Abruzzi commanded the Italian naval fleet in the Adriatic Sea during World War I (1914-1918). Soon after the war ended, he moved to what is now Somalia, then an Italian colony, and continued his explorations in the Shabeelle River region. Abruzzi died near Mogadishu, in what is now Somalia, on March 18, 1933.
