Luca Montuori (

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

, 18 February 1859 –

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 8 March 1952) was an Italian general during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Life

Born in

, he attended the Italian Military Academy of Torino. During the outbreak of the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

, he left for Libia in 1911 and in 1912, he was promoted to Major general. In that function, he commanded the Mixed Brigade during the

Battle of Zanzur The Battles of Zanzur or Battles of Janzur, were a series of battles that took place in 1911–1912 at Zanzur oasis, near Tripoli during the Italo-Turkish War. During the battles, the Italians unsuccessfully attacked the Turkish-Arab stronghold ...

. His brigade played an important role during this battle and he was rewarded with the

Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of ...

. In World War I, as

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, he commanded first the 10th Division and later the 4th Division.
On 23 May 1916, he was placed at the head of the XX Army Corps, with which he fought on the

Monte Piana Monte Piana is a tall mountain in the Sexten Dolomites and located on the border between the provinces of South Tyrol and Belluno. The smaller Northern summit of the mountain is named ''Monte Piano'' (2,305m). During the so-called "White War" ...

and in the

Battle of Mount Ortigara The Battle of Mount Ortigara was fought from 10 to 25 June 1917 between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies for possession of Mount Ortigara, in the Asiago Plateau. Battle The attack began on 10 June and after fierce and bloody fighting, ...

. In August 1917, he led the II Army Corps during the

Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 1917. Background On the Soča (Isonzo) River, Luigi Cadorna, the Italia ...

. After the disastrous

Battle of Caporetto The Battle of Kobarid (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Caporetto or the Battle of Karfreit) took place on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central P ...

, in which he replaced

Luigi Capello Luigi Capello (14 April 1859 – 25 June 1941) was an Italian general, distinguished in both the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12) and World War I. During the Italo-Turkish War he served in Cyrenaica and took part in operations near Derna, comman ...

for a few days as head of the 2nd Army, the new chief of general staff

Armando Diaz Armando Diaz, 1st Duke della Vittoria, (5 December 1861 – 28 February 1928) was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy. He is mostly known for his role as Chief of Staff of the Regio Esercito during World War I from November 1917. He ...

reorganized the Italian Army completely. Luca Montuori was named commander of the new 6th Army, with which he fought successfully in the

Battle of the Piave River The Second Battle of the Piave River (or Battle of the Solstice), fought between 15 and 23 June 1918, was a decisive victory for the Italian Army against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, as Italy was part of the Allied Forces, whi ...

(June 1918) and the

Battle of Vittorio Veneto The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 (with an armistice taking effect 24 hours later) near Vittorio Veneto on the Italian Front during World War I. After having thoroughly defeated Austro-Hungarian troops ...

(October 1918).

Later life

Montuori became an Army General in 1923 and a member of the Italian Senate in 1928. After the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

in September 1943, between Italy and the Allied forces, he remained loyal to the Fascist

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

of Mussolini. For this, he was tried after the war and he lost his title of Senator. He died in 1952 at the age of 93.

Sources

biography on TreccaniSENATORI DELL'ITALIA FASCISTA

External links

Picture of Luca Montuori during the victory parade in London on 19 July 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montuori, Luca 1859 births 1952 deaths Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy People from Avellino