Paolo Thaon di Revel

His Grace The Honourable Paolo Emilio Thaon OSSA, OSLM, OCI
President of the Italian Senate
In office 2 August 1943 – 20 July 1944
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Preceded by	Giacomo Suardo
Succeeded by	Pietro Tomasi Della Torretta
Minister of Navy
In office 31 October 1922 – 8 May 1925
Prime Minister	Benito Mussolini
Preceded by	Roberto De Vito
Succeeded by	Benito Mussolini
Member of the Italian Senate
In office 27 November 1913 – 18 June 1946
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Personal details
Born	(1859-06-10)June 10, 1859 Turin, Piedmont-Sardinia
Died	March 24, 1948(1948-03-24) (aged 88) Rome, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Non-partisan
Spouse(s)	Irene Martini di Cigala (m. 1898–1906); her death
Children	Giovanna Clotilde
Alma mater	Italian Naval Academy
Profession	Military officer
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Italy
Service/branch	Italian Royal Navy
Years of service	1873–1926 1936–1943
Rank	Captain at sea Counter admiral Admiral Grand admiral
Battles/wars	Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) Battle of Beirut World War I (1915–1918) Battle of Caporetto Battle of Durazzo

Paolo Emilio Thaon, Marquess of Revel (10 June 1859 – 24 March 1948), laterly titled by Benito Mussolini with the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea, was an Italian admiral of the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during World War I and later a politician.

Biography

Thaon di Revel was born in Turin from a family of the Savoyard and Niçard nobility of Scottish descent, a minor son of Marquess and Count Ottavio Thaon di Revel.

He took part as Rear-admiral in the Italo-Turkish War, commanding Italian cruisers in the Battle of Beirut.

He twice served as Naval Chief of Staff during World War I and was reluctant to risk the Italian battlefleet in anything other than a major surface action. On 3 February 1917, he replaced the Duke of the Abruzzi as commander of the Italian Navy.^[1] After the Italian rout at Caporetto in November 1917, he secured the coastal area. He favoured the action of smaller vessels, as the MAS which sunk the Austrian battleship Szent István in June 1918. In the late days of the war he led the bombardment of Durazzo^[2] and the quick occupation of the coasts of Istria and Dalmatia.

In 1917 he was named to the Italian Senate. In November 1921, while serving as the Chief of the Italian Naval Staff, he was Italy's naval representative to the Washington Armaments Conference.^[3]

In 1922, he was ennobled by King Victor Emmanuel III and given the victory title of 1st Duca del Mare ("Duke of the Sea"). In October 1922 he was appointed Minister of the Navy and chief advisor of King Victor Emmanuel III; he resigned as Minister in 1925. He was promoted to Grand Admiral on 4 November 1924. He was President of the Italian Senate from 1943 to 1944 after the fall of fascist regime.

Thaon di Revel died in Rome in 1948. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, next to general Armando Diaz.

References