Fulco Ruffo di Calabria


Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda was an Italian World War I flying ace and senator of the Kingdom from 1934 until his death. He was the father of Paola, Queen of the Belgians.

Family history

Ademarus Rufus, who died in 1049, held the title of Comes in southern Italy. Siggerio Ruffo became Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II's grand marshal of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1235. After the 14th century, the family divided into two branches Ruffo di Scaletta and the Ruffo di Calabria, the latter to which Fulco belonged.
Fulco was the son of Fulco VII Beniamino Tristano Ruffo di Calabria, 5th Duke of Guardia Lombarda, and Laura Mosselman du Chenoy, a Belgian aristocrat, whose maternal grandfather was Count Jacques André Coghen, Belgium's second finance minister. Beniamino Ruffo di Calabria was the younger brother of the head of the House of Ruffo, Fulco Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau, 10th Principe di Scilla and 2nd Duca di Santa Cristina.
Fulco was made, by decree of 15 March 1928, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, in the Kingdom of Italy. By inheritance, he was also the 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda and 17th Count of Sinopoli. The Calabrian branch of the House of Ruffo represents one of the most ancient lineages of Italy and includes many notable personages, such as Cardinal Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo. Fulco was related to historically eminent Roman and southern Italian noble families, including the Colonna, Orsini, Pallavicini, Alliata and Rospigliosi.

Early life and prewar military service

Fulco Ruffo di Calabria was born in Naples, Kingdom of Italy on 12 August 1884. He volunteered as a reserve officer training with the 11th Foggia Light Cavalry Regiment on 22 November 1904. On 31 May 1905, he was promoted to Corporal; on 30 November, he was again promoted, to Sergente. On 20 February 1906, he was commissioned into officers' ranks as a Second lieutenant.
Subsequently, he became deputy director of the Belgian Wegimont shipping company's African station. He returned from Africa as World War I broke out.

World War I service

Ruffo di Calabria returned to military duty before Italy's entry into World War I, and was assigned to the Battaglione Aviatori on 20 December 1914. After pilot training, on 28 September 1915 he was posted to the 4a Squadriglia Artiglia, an artillery coordination unit that later morphed into 44a Squadriglia. On 26 January 1916, he moved to 2a Squadriglia. He won two Bronze awards of the Medal for Military Valor—in February and April 1916—while still a two-seater pilot with them. His personal emblem was a black skull and crossbones painted on the fuselage of his plane, whether it was his original Nieuport 11s, or his later Nieuport 17 and SPAD VII airplanes.
Ruffo di Calabria underwent further training on Nieuports at Cascina Costa in May 1916. On 26 June, he was assigned to 1a Squadriglia as a fighter pilot. He won his first victory there, shared with Francesco Baracca on 23 August 1916, and had a second one go unconfirmed. His performance was good for a Silver Medal for Military Valor in August, followed by a Bronze in September 1916.
By 16 September, when he shared a victory with Baracca and Luigi Olivari, he was scoring for his new unit, 70a Squadriglia. He ran his score with them to four confirmed and four unconfirmed by 28 February 1917.
In March 1917, he was transferred out of the reserves when he was promoted to Tenente. In May he then switched to flying a Nieuport for 91a Squadriglia. He was awarded both a Silver and a Bronze Medal for Military Valor that same month. His promotion to Capitano came through in August 1917. By that time, his confirmed victories totalled 13. He ended 1917 with his total victories at 16.
Ruffo di Calabria's records for 1918 are incomplete, but they credit him with four more victories. On 5 May 1918, he was granted the ultimate Medal of Military Valor, the Gold award. After Baracca's death on 19 June 1918, Fulco assumed command of the renowned "Squadron of Aces". He relinquished command of 91a Squadriglia on 18 September to Ferruccio Ranza, after suffering a nervous breakdown. After recovering, on 23 October 1918 he was given command of 10th Gruppo, but was shot down by artillery fire near Marano on 29 October 1918. In the end, he shot down twenty enemy airplanes in 53 combats, making him the fifth highest scoring Italian flying ace of World War I.

Post-World War I

On 1 February 1919, the Bongiovanni commission's military intelligence report verified all twenty of Ruffo di Calabria's confirmed victories, although still denying the five that were unconfirmed. Ruffo di Calabria retained his military commission, although without a posting. By 1925, his main activity was the management of his family estates located near Paliano.
In 1934, he was named senator of the kingdom by King Victor Emmanuel III. He also continued in the military, eventually rising to the rank of Tenente Colonello in 1942. Ruffo di Calabria served in the Italian senate until 1944.
For this reason, in the immediate post-war period, Ruffo di Calabria was referred to the High Court of Justice for Sanctions against Fascism. However, the request for his dismissal was rejected by the Court, due to Ruffo establishing his aversion to fascism. His two sons Fabrizio and Augusto had served as partisans and were engaged in the Marche at the time of the Allies breaking through the Gustav Line, and his son Augusto had died at sea off Pescara while taking part in a joint action with the Allies on the night of 2/3 November 1943.
Fulco Ruffo di Calabria died in Ronchi di Apuania, Italy, on 23 August 1946.

Awards

Italian awards

International awards

Personal life and descendants

On 30 June 1919, Ruffi di Calabria married, in Turin, Donna Luisa Albertina Christina Giovanna Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana e di San Sebastiano, the daughter of Augusto Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana e di San Sebastiano, and his wife, Maria Cristina dei Conti Rignon. Luisa served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elena of Italy.
They had seven children:
  • * Maria Cristina Ruffo di Calabria ;
married Casimiro San Martino d´Aglie dei Marchesi di San Germano in 1940 :
  • ** Emanuela San Martino d'Agliè;
married 1962 Count Ernesto Rossi di Montelera :
  • *** Lidia Rossi di Montelera ; married 1990 Count Alexander zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg.
  • *** Maria Cristina Rossi di Montelera ; married 1994 Baron Hans-Ulrich von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen.
  • *** Ginevra Rossi di Montelera.
  • *** Antonella Rossi di Montelera ; married 2003 Count Alois von Waldburg-Zeil.
  • ** Antonella San Martino d'Agliè; married 1970 Count Ippolito Calvi di Bergolo Rocca Saporiti.
  • ** Giovanna San Martino d'Aglie ; married 24 May 1974 Campiglione, Italy, Don Alvaro de Orléans-Borbón y Parodi Delfino, divorced with issue in ?
  • ** Nicolo San Martino d'Aglie ; married 4 June 1974 Princess Catherine Napoléon, divorced without issue in 1982.
  • **Filippo San Martino d'Agile di San Germano ; married 16 November 1984 Cristina Maria Margherita Flesia.
  • * Laura Ruffo di Calabria ;
married Bettino, Baron Ricasoli Firidolfi in 1946: four children.
  • * Fabrizio, Prince Ruffo di Calabria-Santapau ; head of the House of Ruffo from 1975:
13th Prince of Palazzolo, 14th Prince of Scilla, 7th Duke of Guardia Lombarda, 13th Marquis of Scilla and 18th Count of Sinopoli:
his first marriage to Maria Vaciago, had :
  • ** Don Fulco IX, Prince Ruffo di Calabria ; current head of the House of Ruffo di Calabria, married and divorced Melba Vincens Bello; married secondly, in 2005, Luisa Tricarico.
  • ** Augusto Ruffo di Calabria ; married Princess Christiana zu Windisch-Graetz in 1980 with issue.
  • ** Imara Ruffo di Calabria ; married firstly Uberto Imar Gashe in 1986; married secondly Baron Marco Tonci Ottieri della Ciaia in 1993.
  • ** Umberto Ruffo di Calabria ; married Leontina, Marchesa Pallavicini in 1987.
  • **Don Alessandro Ruffo di Calabria ; married Princess Mafalda of Savoy-Aosta in 1994, divorced without issue in 2000.
  • * Augusto Ruffo di Calabria ; killed in battle at sea on 2 November 1943 near Pescara.
  • * Giovannella Ruffo di Calabria.
  • * Antonello Ruffo di Calabria ;
married Rosa Maria Mastrogiovanni Tasca in 1961.
  • ** Covella Ruffo di Calabria.
  • ** Lucio Ruffo di Calabria.
  • ** Domitilla Ruffo di Calabria ; married 16 July 1990 Don Giovanni dei Baroni Porcari Li Destri.
  • ** Claudia Ruffo di Calabria ; married 27 May 1989 Marcello Salom.
  • * Paola Ruffo di Calabria ; Queen consort of the Belgians:
married to Albert II, King of the Belgians in 1959.
Married to Mathilde, Countess d'Udekem d'Acoz, four children.