King Umberto II

Umberto II (Italian: Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia; 15 September 1904 – 18 March 1983), was the last King of Italy. He reigned for 34 days, from 9 May 1946 until his formal deposition on 12 June 1946, although he had been the de facto head of state since 1944. Due to his short reign, he was nicknamed the May King (Italian: re di maggio).

Umberto was the only son among the five children of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Elena of Montenegro. As heir apparent to the throne, he received a customary military education and pursued a military career afterwards. He commanded an army group during the brief Italian invasion of France shortly before French capitulation. In 1942, he was promoted to Marshal of Italy but was otherwise inactive as an army commander during much of the Second World War. Umberto turned against the war following Italian defeats at Stalingrad and El Alamein, and tacitly supported the ouster of Benito Mussolini.

In 1944, Victor Emmanuel, compromised by his association with Italian fascism and desperate to repair the monarchy's image, transferred most of his powers to Umberto. He transferred his remaining powers to Umberto later in 1944 and named him Lieutenant General (Luogotenente) of the Realm; while retaining the title of King. As the country prepared for the 1946 Italian institutional referendum on the continuation of the Italian monarchy, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in favour of Umberto, in the hope that his exit might bolster the monarchy. The June 1946 referendum saw voters voting to abolish the monarchy, and Italy was declared a republic days later. Umberto departed the country; he and other male members of the House of Savoy were barred from returning. He lived out the rest of his life in exile in Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. He died in Geneva in 1983.