ABRUZZI, DUKE OF THE Italian vice admiral and explorer, son of Amadeo, duke of Aosta, was born at Madrid Jan. 29, 1873, and named Luigi Amadeo. Although he had a distinguished naval career he achieved fame also as a trav eller and mountaineer. He was the first to ascend Mt. St. Elias in Alaska (1897) and in 1899 he organized a North Pole expedition, part of which reached lat. 86° 3' N., at that time the record of northern exploration, he himself being forced to remain behind owing to frostbite. In 1906 he was the first to ascend the Ruwen zori in East Africa, reaching the twin summits (16,800 ft.) which he named Margherita and Alexandra, and making the first detailed map of the Ruwenzori. In 1909 he ascended K 2 in the Himalayas to an altitude of over 20,000 ft. and on July 18 Bride peak to 24,60o ft. During the World War he commanded the naval forces in the Adriatic, but he resigned in IgI7 owing to disagree ments with Admiral Thaon di Revel, his chief of staff, and retired from the service. Afterwards he undertook to carry out an im portant colonization scheme in Italian Somaliland.
English translations of his works are The Ascent of Mount St. Elias (Igloo); Ruwenzori (Igog).