Agenore Frangipani

Biography

Agenore Frangipani was born in 1876 to a noble family of ancient lineage: the Marquis of Mileta. He was the second son of the Marquis of Mileta and by secular tradition he was destined to a military career. He started in the Italian Navy, studying for some time at the Naval Academy of Livorno, but soon he preferred to pursue a career as an officer in the Italian Army. So, he went to study at the Military Academy "Nunziatella" of Napoli, from which he became in 1899 lieutenant of the "Corazzieri".

Frangipani when young took virtually no part in the military life from 1899 until 1905, having to deal with the death of his parents and older brother and taking control of the administration of his own lands at Benevento and in Molise; nevertheless he was promoted to captain of Cuirassiers in 1906 and in 1908 left the cavalry and the Cuirassiers for the "Artillery".

In 1907 Frangipani married Countess Cristina Agazzi (1891–1953), member of a noble Lombard family.

In 1911 Frangipani took part in the Italo-Turkish War in Libya (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) and was particularly interested in the Turkish air defense: after the capture of Tripoli he discovered some of the anti-aircraft defenses, proposing to the Italian Ministry of War to create similar defenses in Italian shores and in the colonial outposts in Libya.

During World War I Frangipani distinguished himself as a relentless interventionist in favor of the "Entente" and participated personally in the early fighting on the Carso. Unlike other officers of aristocratic family, he did not want to enter the Military Command headquarters but continued the war fighting in the trenches, being promoted to Major in 1917 and Colonel a year after the war ended.

Frangipani was not hostile to fascism, because he believed it was a form of rebirth of Italian military power and he joined the Fascist Party already in 1923. Senior official at the Ministry of War, Frangipani was military attaché in Berlin and Paris until 1930.

He also participated in the Spanish Civil War alongside the Franco troops as commander of the Italian contingent. Before fighting in Spain, he had distinguished himself during the War of Ethiopia and was promoted to Major General in 1936.

Agenore Frangipani also actively participated in the Italian invasion and conquest of Albania in 1939.

As an Officer commanding an Italian Army in Ethiopia, he succeeded his parent Giuseppe Daodice as governor of Addis Ababa in the last three days of the Italian Government. He found himself having to counter the Allied advance without any hope, he was forced to give the Ethiopia's capital to the British on April 6, 1941. Indeed, the Italian Viceroy Amedeo d'Aosta ordered him (the Italian governor of Addis Abeba), to surrender the city to the British commanders without any fight, in order to forestall the massacre of Italian civilians that happened a few days before in Dire Dawa. Frangipani-who was prepared for a defensive battle- accepted reluctantly the order to surrender.

But having on him the responsibility and the dishonor of surrender, during the retreat from the city committed suicide with poison. His family honored his old-aristocracy feelings about not accepting surrender without combat.

Awards

Some of the Awards (and Medals) received by Agenore Frangipani were:

Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia

Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro

Commendatore dell'Ordine militare di Savoia

Commendatore dell'Ordine coloniale della stella d'Italia

Medaglia d'oro al valor militare

Medaglia commemorativa della guerra italo-turca 1911–1912

Medaglia Commemorativa della Guerra di Spagna (1936–1939)

Medaglia commemorativa della Spedizione in Albania