Luigi Mascherpa

Luigi Mascherpa (15 April 1893 – 24 May 1944) was an Italian admiral during World War II. He led the Italian defense during the Battle of Leros and was later executed by the Italian Social Republic.

Early life and career

Luigi Mascherpa was born in Genoa in 1893 and entered the Naval Academy in Livorno in 1911. After graduating as a midshipman in 1914, he became a floatplane pilot at the start of World War I (serving with the seaplane tender Europa) and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1916. Later in the war he joined the armoured cruiser San Giorgio, where he was promoted to lieutenant and became navigation officer and aide of the Italian naval commander in Albania. on 13 September, the Germans offered Mascherpa to surrender with "honourable conditions", but he refused.

As the commander of Leros, Mascherpa led the resistance of the Italian forces stationed in the island. On 22 May 1944 Mascherpa was tried by a Fascist kangaroo court ("Tribunale Speciale per la Difesa dello Stato"), along with admiral Inigo Campioni (the governor of the Dodecanese), on charges of "treason" for having resisted the German invasion. Both were posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.