born Sept. 15, 1904, Racconigi, Italy
died March 18, 1983, Geneva, Switz.
Prince of Savoy and briefly king of Italy (1946).
Son of Victor Emmanuel III , he commanded an Italian army division in World War II. In May 1946 his father abdicated in his favour, but Umberto was himself forced to abdicate in June after the Italian people voted for a republic. He and his male heirs were permanently banished from Italy (though the ban was lifted in 2002), and he settled in Portugal.