ETH 269
Letter from the Governor of Eritrea, Riccardo Astuto dei Duchi di Lucchesi, appointing Dr. Antonio Viglietta, head of the bank of Italy in Asmara, to a high award. It reads: I am pleased to share with you that S.M. (His majesty) the RE (king) with the decree of the current 25 is pleased to appoint you a knight in the Order of the Crown of Italy. In communicating this sovereign concession to you and reserving the right to send you the Magistral Diploma as soon as you arrive from the Chancery of the Order, I am pleased to express my satisfaction for your well-deserved honors. Dated October 29, 1932 and signed by the governor in Asmara. Also included is the initial appointment reported the day earlier from the Minister of Colonies. It is rare to find two documents matching to the same person for the same promotion. B
Price: $150.00
ETH 269Note: Born in a noble Sicilian family but residing in Naples where he was born in 1882, Riccardo Astuto dei Duchi di Lucchesi graduated in law from the University of Rome. From 1913 to 1915 he was first secretary then head of the civil affairs office of the governorate of Tripolitania. Transferred to Cyrenaica, he held several positions (secretary general in Benghazi, regional commissioner in Derna), including that of director (1919), until the disagreement with the governor Giacomo De Martino on the conciliation policy implemented with the Senussi forced him to a new series of transfers: first in Somalia, from 1922 in Tripolitania and then from June of the following year again in Cyrenaica. After being long director general of the Ministry of Colonies (1924-1930), from mid-July 1930 until mid-January 1935 he was governor of Eritrea. He promoted the construction of the railway from Asmara to the border with Sudan, but WW2 blocked this project. Placed in retirement, he continued to hold important positions, mainly of study and research. Furthermore, even after the end of WW2, he was president of the Italian-African Institute, a member of the Institute for the East and a member of the foreign policy commission of the Christian Democracy party. He promoted in the late 1940s the return to Italian administration of the former Italian colonies in Africa, but he was successful only with Somalia. He died in his villa in Francavilla al Mare, not far away from Naples, in 1952.
