Matteo Roux | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 July 1881 Bellino, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 3 July 1952 Chiavari, Italy |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Italy |
| Service/ |  Royal Italian Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | 3rd Infantry Division "Monferrato" Albania Army Corps XI Army Corps |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Matteo Roux (Bellino, 14 July 1881 – Chiavari, 3 July 1952) was an Italian general during World War II.
The second of three children, he was born in Bellino, province of Cuneo, on 14 July 1881, the son of Bernardo Roux, a craftsman by profession, and of Maria Allemand. At a very young age he emigrated with his family to Toulon, France, when his father made a fortune by selling a new type of liqueur, until he decided to return to Italy and settle in Cuneo, where he started a new business as a restorer. The young Matteo became passionate about the world of horse riding, and eventually decided to enroll in the Cavalry School, thus starting his military career. He enlisted in the Royal Italian Army in 1900 and began to attend the Royal Military Academy of Artillery and Engineers in Turin, graduating with the rank of artillery second lieutenant on 13 November 1901. Having become a brilliant horse riding instructor, he was called by the House of Savoy to train Crown Prince Umberto and later Prince Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta. He thus gained access to the royal palaces, learning how to move in such environments with ease, and met Margherita Beauty, a young lady belonging to the nobility of a younger branch of the Savoy family, whom he married in 1903. [1]
He later attended the War School of Turin and became an officer of the General Staff, participating in the First World War. Between 1920 and 1928 he served at the War School of Turin (initially as chief instructor of military history, then as instructor of logistics and finally as chief instructor of logistics), being promoted to colonel and later to brigadier general on 16 June 1934. Between 1935 and 1936 he took part in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and in the subsequent counterguerrilla operations. After being repatriated he was promoted to major general on 1 July 1937, and assigned to the command of the artillery in Brescia. He then assumed the post of Chief of Staff of the V Corps of Bologna. After serving as Director General of Logistics Services at the Ministry of War, in 1939 he assumed command of the 3rd Infantry Division "Monferrato" (renamed 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna" in March 1939), and immediately after the occupation of Albania he was appointed commander of the troops deployed there, being later replaced by Carlo Geloso. After promotion to lieutenant general on 1 January 1940, he assumed command of the XI Army Corps, which he maintained after the Kingdom of Italy entered the Second World War on 10 June 1940. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
With the beginning of the Greek campaign, due to the unfavorable trend of the military operations, on 1 November 1940 he was replaced by General Mario Robotti, whom in turn he replaced as director of the logistic services of the Ministry of War in Rome. Within a few days he lost both his wife and his daughter Maria, who died after contracting influenza while they were awaiting his return in Bari. In the following years he worked in Rome as Director of Logistic Services at the Ministry of War and continued to frequent the House of Savoy. Having fallen in love with his young maid Maria Manzo, who gave him a son, Mario, he married her a few years later. During this period he built a villa in Fontanile, a hamlet of the municipality of Bellino. [7] [8] [9]
After being discharged from the Army he retired to private life, living between Bellino and Saluzzo for several years. On 1 June 1949 the Prefecture of Cuneo appointed him President of the local hospital. He died suddenly on 3 July 1952, while visiting his sister Margherita in Chiavari. [10] [11]
The siege of Cuneo was fought on 28 June 1691 during Nine Years' War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The siege was part of French King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, who had sided with the Grand Alliance the previous year. The siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinat's army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders – and a timely arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster, resulting in the loss of between 700 and 800 men. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat's small, ill-equipped army was forced onto the defensive. Louis XIV subsequently offered Amadeus generous peace terms but the Duke, who had by now received substantial Imperial reinforcements from the Empire, considered himself strong enough to continue hostilities.
Gustavo Pesenti was an Italian general. He was Italian colonial governor of Somaliland.
Alessandro Gloria was an Italian general during World War II.
Umberto di Giorgio was an Italian general during World War II, in charge of the territorial defense of Rome from 1939 till September 1943.
Antonio Sorice was an Italian general during World War II, Undersecretary for War from February to July 1943 and Minister of War from July 1943 to February 1944.
Curio Barbasetti, Count of Prun was an Italian general during World War II, Chief of Staff of the Italian High Command in North Africa in 1942-1943 and Governor of Montenegro from July to September 1943.
Rodolfo Torresan was an Italian general during World War II. He was head of the Services Office at the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army for most of the war.
Giuseppe Falugi was an Italian general during World War II.
Nino Sozzani was an Italian general during World War II.
Camillo Mercalli was an Italian general during World War II.
Eraldo Ilari was an Italian Air Force general during World War II. He was commander of the 4th Air Fleet in Apulia and later of the 3rd Air Fleet in central Italy.
Davide Dusmet de Smours was an Italian general during World War II.
Antonio Scuero was an Italian general during World War II.
Benvenuto Gioda was an Italian general during World War II.
Alfonso Ollearo was an Italian general during World War II. He was State Undersecretary for the Army of the Italian Social Republic from December 1943 to June 1944.
Maurizio Lazzaro de Castiglioni was an Italian general during World War II. From 1940 to 1942 he was head of the Operations Office of the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army. After the war he became commander of the Allied Land Forces Southern Europe in 1951–1952.
Pietro Belletti was an Italian general during World War II.
Ugo Buttà was an Italian general during World War II.
Luigi Edoardo Alfredo Gherzi was an Italian general during World War II.
Attilio Grattarola was an Italian general during World War II.