Ernesto Burzagli
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Ernesto Burzagli CB (June 7, 1873 – September 13, 1944) was an prominent figure in the Kingdom of Italy during the early 20th Century. During a lifetime career in the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina Italiana), he rose to the rank of Admiral and Chief of Staff. In 1933, King Victor Emmanuel II appointed Burzagli as a Senator in Rome.[1]
Despite his life service to the state, Burzagli was arrested in 1944 after clashing with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Although he was released a short time later, Burzagli was forced to withdraw from public life.
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[edit] Early years
Burzagli entered the Italian Naval Academy (Accademia Navale) in Livorno in 1887; and he was commissioned as ensign in 1892.
After serving on a number of ships in the Italian navy, he was transferred to a unique assignment in the Far East.
As military attaché with the Imperial Japanese Navy from May 1904, he was able to witness the Russo-Japanese War from the perspective of the ultimate victors of that conflict. He participated as an observer in the naval bombardment of Port Arthur. At war's end, Burzagli was awarded a Japanese War medal before leaving Japan for the return voyage to Italy.[2]
[edit] Naval career
In 1912, he was promoted to captain of an Intrepid class naval destroyer.
Promoted to commander in 1914, he saw combat in the First World war.
From May 1916 to March 1917, he served on the General Staff; and in 1917, Captain Burzagli sailed the RN Libia across the Atlantic to New York.[3] Near the end of the conflict, he was promoted to higher rank.
In February 1918, he was awarded the military Order of Savoy.[1]
At the end of the war in 1919, Burzagli was sent in Albania to command the naval base of Valona.
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Burzagli was given command of the cruiser RN Libia from February 1921 to February 1923, and during this period, the ship circumnavigated the globe.[4]
Burzagli was promoted to the rank of rear admiral; and he was promoted to head the Accademia Navale and the Italian Institute of Marine War.
He wrote a treatise in four volumes, Manual of Navigation (1927).
He left his place at the academy in 1927 in to accept the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy,[5] a post he held until 1931.[6]
He was a Technical Advisor in the Italian delegation at the London Naval Conference of 1930 for the reduction of the armaments.[7]
Burzagli was promoted to Admiral in 1926, and promoted again to Vice Admiral in 1928. He was Naval Chief of Staff from 1927-1931.[1] He was no longer Naval Chief of Staff in 1932 when Italy announced plans to retire two battleships, twelve cruisers, 25 destroyers, and 12 submarines -- in all, 130,000 tons of naval vessels.[8]
The navy had changed considerably when Burzagli was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1940.[1]
In 1933, he was also named a Senator.[9] In the Senate, he served as a member of the Commission for Examination of Law Conversion (1936-1939), a member of the Commission for Finances (1939-1943), and a member of the Commission for the High Court of Justice (1940-1943).[1]
[edit] Later years
Burzagli withdrew from the active service in 1936. After the withdrawal to Montevarchi near his estate of Moncioni, he entered in friction with Mussolini for its clean opposition to Italy's entrance into the alliances which might lead to war.
In the spring of 1944, he refused to collaborate with the authorities of the Italian Social Republic; and he was arrested. However, he was released in consideration of his reputation and his advanced age.
He is buried in a monumental tomb in the cemetery of Montevarchi.
[edit] Honors
• Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy, Kingdom of Italy, 1905.[1]
• Officer of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 1916.[1]
• Commander of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 1919.[1]
• Grand Officer of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 1926.[1]
• Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy, 1933.[1]
• Knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Kingdom of Italy, 1915.[1]
• Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1922.[1]
• Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1923.[1]
• Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1931.[1]
• Knight of Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 1936.[1]
• Order of the Rising Sun, Japan, 1906.[10]
• Order of the Sacred Treasure, Japan, 1906.[10]
• Companion of the Order of the Bath, United Kingdom[11]
• Knight of the Légion d'honneur, France.[12]
• Knight of the Order of Saint Anna, Russia
• Knight of the Military Order of Savoy, Kingdom of Italy, 1918.[1]
• Commander, First Class, of the Order of the White Rose, Finland.[13]
• Commander of the Order of the Sun, Peru.[14]
• Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania- • Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania
• Grand Officer of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, Morocco.[15]
• Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, Netherlands[16]- • Grand Officer of the Military Order of Aviz, Portugal, 1920.[17]
• Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit, Spain[18]
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[edit] Decorations
• Medaglia commemorativa delle campagne d’Africa, Italo-Abyssinian War, 1895.[1]- • Russo-Japanese War Medal, Japan, 1904-1905.
- • Medaglia commemorativa delle guerra italo-turca, Italo-Turkish War, 1911-1912.[1]
• Bronze Medal of Military Valor, 1912.[1]- • Medaglia commemorativa della guerra 1915-1918, 1919.[1]
• Medaglia commemorativa della guerra italo-austriaca, 1915–1920.[1]
• Medaglia commemorativa dell' Unità d' Italia.[1]
• Medaglia interalleata della Vittoria, Kingdom of Italy, 1919.[1]
• Navy Cross, United States- • Medal of the Centenary of the Independence of Peru, 1821-1921[19]
• Croce d' argento per anzianità di servizio.
• Croce d' oro per anzianità di servizio.[1]
• Medaglia d'onore per lunga navigazione.[20]
• Medaglia Mauriziana al merito di dieci lustri di carriera militare, Kingdom of Italy
[edit] Selected works
- Burzagli, Ernesto. (1927). Manuale dell'Ufficiale di Rotta. Genoa:
- __________ and A Grillo. (1932). Manual del oficial de derrota (Navagation Manual translated from Italian to Spanish). Barcelona: G. Gilli
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Senato della Repubblica: biographical summary
- ^ Image:Portarthur.jpg; Image:Giapp.jpg
- ^ Malcolm, James. (1917). State Service: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Government of the State of New York and Its Affairs, p. 268.
- ^ Library of Congress: RN Libia
- ^ Segrè, Claudio G. (1990). Italo Balbo: A Fascist Life, p. 188.
- ^ Zivkovic, Georg. (1971). Heer- und Flottenführer der Welt; Army and navy-leaders of the world, p. 587.
- ^ Great Britain Foreign Office. (1930). Documents of the London Naval Conference, 1930, p. 96.
- ^ "Italy Will Retire 130,000 tons of Navy; Two Battleships, All That She Owns, Are Included in the Sweeping Economy Move. Four New Cruisers to Go [plus] Eight Old Ones, 25 Destroyers and 12 Submarines Also to Be Taken Out of Service," New York Times. August 18, 1932.
- ^ Estratto Bolletino d'Informazioni, Marzo 1934
- ^ a b Honor awarded in 1906 -- "Cruiser 'Livia' in Kobe to Greet Italians," Osaka Mainichi. July 28, 1922.
- ^ appointment to Order of the Bath, p. 1 and appointment, p. 2
- ^ Légion d'honneur: diploma
- ^ Order of White Rose of Finland: diploma
- ^ Peru: diploma, Order of the Sun
- ^ See Talk:Ernesto Burzagli#Order of Ouissam Alaouite
- ^ Order of Orange-Nassau: diploma
- ^ Presidencia da Republica, Chancelaria das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Anuário: Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas, Ciadadãos Estrangeiros, 1910-2006, p. 75.
- ^ Spanish Order of Naval Merit: diploma
- ^ Augusto B. Leguía, President of Peru: diploma, Medal of the Centenary of Peru
- ^ Medaglia d'onore per lunga navigazione: diploma
[edit] References
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- Bernotti, Romeo. (1971). Cinquant'anni nella Marina militare. Mursia: .
- Canevari, Emilio. (1948). La guerra italiana, retroscena della disfatta, Tosi.
- Ceva, Lucio. (1981). Le forze armate, Torino: UTET.
- Great Britain Foreign Office. (1930). Documents of the London Naval Conference, 1930: Consisting of the Treaty Signed on April 22, the Minutes of Plenary Meetings, Memoranda Submitted by the United States, French, United Kingdom, Italian and Japanese Delegations of Their Position at the Conference, the Report of the First Committee .... London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Leva, Fausto. (1936). Storia delle campagne oceaniche della R. Marina. Rome: Ufficio Storico della Marina.
- Malcolm, James. (1917). State Service: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Government of the State of New York and Its Affairs. Albany, New York: State Service Magazine Co., Inc.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Peru). (1922). Discursos y documentos oficiales en el primer centenario de la Independencia. República del Perú. Lima: Impressa Torres Aguirre.
- Po, Guido. (1929). L'opera della R. Marina in Eritrea e Somalia (dall'occupazione, alla visita di S.A.R. il Principe Ereditario (The Action of the Italian Royal Navy in Eritrea and Somalia from the Occupation through the Visit of H.R.H. Crown Prince Umberto). Introduzione, Ernesto Burzagli. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato (Italian State Printing Office).
- Rea, Alberto. (1977). L'Accademia aeronautica: cronistoria dalle origini al 1975. Rome: Ufficio Storico SMA.
- Sadkovich, James J. (1994). The Italian Navy in World War II. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. 10-ISBN 0-313-28797-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-313-28797-8
- Segrè, Claudio G. (1990). Italo Balbo: A Fascist Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10-ISBN 0-520-07199-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-520-07199-5 (paper)
- Umetani, Noboru (梅溪昇編 Umetani Noboru). (1991). Meiji Period Foreign Decoration History Compilation (明治期外国人叙勲史料集成 Meijiki gaikokujin jokun shiryō shūsei). Kyoto: Shibunkaku Shuppan (思文閣出版). 10-ISBN 4-784-20666-3; 13-ISBN 978-4-784-20666-7
- Vitale, Massimo Adolfo. (1959). Vitale, L'Italia in Africa: serie storico-militare. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato (Italian State Printing Office).
- Wright, Herbert Francis. (1931). Proceedings of the London Naval Conference of 1930 and Supplementary Documents.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- Zivkovic, Georg. (1971). Heer- und Flottenführer der Welt: Army and navy-leaders of the world. Chefs des armées et des flottes du monde. Osnabrück: Biblio-Verlag. 10-ISBN 3-764-80666-4; 13-ISBN 978-3-764-80666-8
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- This article also derives significantly from the content and style of the "Ernesto Burzagli" article on the Italian Wikipedia.
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[edit] See also
- Regia Marina
- Enrico Caviglia, military attaché in Tokyo (1904-1905)
[edit] External links
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