Sweden Order of Seraphim to an Italian Officer

[Chris Boonzaier]

Watch this space...

[claudio2574]

Hello everybody. I've just bought this diploma:

It is a Swedish Order of Seraphim awarded in 1911 to an Officer of Italian Royal Army, whose name was Emilio Marchiafava.

In the Official Gazette of January 1925 I find a Lieutenant Colonel with the same name, receiving the Order of St. Maurice and Lazarus (knight). Since the surname Marchiafava is not so common, I can imagine that he was the same officer.

I would like to know for what reason he did receive the Order of Seraphim, if there is any official list for it.

I know very a few about the order. Just reading Wiki, I've learnt that it is very important and that the coat of arms should have returned to Sweden. Is that true?

Any info will be appreciated. Thanks

[Great Dane]

Very interesting.

Is it possible to have a larger image (not so compressed)?

The Swedish state calendars ("Sveriges Statskalender") would have lists of recipients, but I only have the 1882 and 1900 versions.

/Michael

[claudio2574]

Here is a wide picture. Actually the hand written words seem to refer to the Sward order, but the topmost picture and the beatiful wide paper seal say "Seraphim".

Inside there is a second paper with the restitution rules (Swedish, French, German):

[GRA]

The document states that the Italian lieutenant Emilio Marchiafava is appointed knight, 2nd class, of The Royal Order of the Sword (Swedish abbreviation RSO - knight of the Order of the Sword).

There's no way he could have been awarded the Order of the Seraphim - no royal blood and way too low in the chain of command. This is the normal level that was then awarded to Swedish officers after ~25 years of service, I wonder why your Italian lieutenant got the RSO?

/Jonas

[claudio2574]

I wonder the same... and I wonder also why the order of Sward is written by hand in a document referring to a much higher order. Is this normal?

[GRA]

I wonder the same... and I wonder also why the order of Sward is written by hand in a document referring to a much higher order. Is this normal?

I don't know, but I've got the feeling that this is a standard document for pretty much anything awarded by the king of Sweden, the king would of course want a picture of his most senior award to be shown on the document! There are examples of senior Swedish regiments carrying the Order of the Seraphim regalia on their colours and standards, not because they were awarded the decoration as such, but because of seniority.

I wonder whether the award was made because of a state visit in either Sweden or Italy, a "for bravery with the briefcase"-award? A mere lieutenant seems too junior for a military attaché appointment...

/Jonas

[claudio2574]

I don't know, but I've got the feeling that this is a standard document for pretty much anything awarded by the king of Sweden, the king would of course want a picture of his most senior award to be shown on the document! ...

That was not the case in Italy. Even if the king was of course the head of all the Orders (SS.Annunziata, the topmost, S.Maurizio e Lazzaro, Corona d'Italia, Militare di Savoia, Civile di Savoia, Merito coloniale, etc.) every award had the reference to the specific order being given to the recipient.

I guess that there is no way to know why Marchiafava received this order.

Another question is about the insigna. I've seen it in some auctions, but I haven't any expertise about them. This is an example:

Where can I find infos about them?

[GRA]

As to the question why: If there was a state visit just before the award date, well, there's the most probable reason. If not, it could be more complicated to find out why.

As to general information: Wikipedia (at least in Swedish) provides decent pictures of the different levels of the insignia. The current manufacturer of insignia of the royal orders are Lars Kjellander Ordensateljé.

As to the insignia on the award document: It seems like it is the insignia of the seal of Kunglig Majestäts Orden (http://www.kungahuset.se/monarkin/ordnar/kunglmajtsorden.4.367010ad11497db6cba80004760.html), thus explaining a general document and also why the Chancellor of the Orders has signed and not the king himself?

/Jonas

Edited August 7, 2013 by GRA

[claudio2574]

Thanks Jonas!

Sorry for my mistake at the very beginning, thinking this was a Seraphim order.

[GRA]

After looking at an online copy of "Sveriges Statskalender", 1915 edition, I find foreign military attachés of the rank of lieutenant, but attachés with Swedish decorations are of higher rank (such as the French naval attaché, commander Jean Jules Gallaud KSO2kl - two steps up from RSO level). As far as I can see, there's no uniformed members of the Italian embassy at all in 1915. Looking at the 1905 edition, there are examples of captains with the same level of Svärdsorden as Lt M - RSO. No uniformed Italians in 1905 either. I still lean in the general direction of a state visit...

/Jonas

Edited August 7, 2013 by GRA

[GRA]

Claudio,

If you look at this thread; http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/29604-swedish-military/, you'll find examples of Swedish officers receiving the RSO 20-25 years into their careers at the rank of captain, some of them also got foreign decorations before that as orderly officers during state visits. Assuming that the Italian armed forces worked in roughly the same way, I'd say that you can apply the same pattern on Lt M.

/Jonas

[claudio2574]

Thanks again Jonas

[claudio2574]

Thru an Italian forum, I got the personal history of Emilio Marchiafava.

In January 1911 he was transferred back to Cavalry. In the years 1909 and 1910 he was in the Guards of the King. This give more strength to Jonas's idea that this order was awarded during a State visit.

[GRA]

Claudio,

Do you have access to Italian archives? I can only find a visit of king Vittorio Emmanuele III to Sweden in 1913... There's however an Italian politician - Giovanni Giolitti - who was awarded the Order of the Seraphim two days after Lt M got his RSO! Is there some sort of connection? Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Knights_of_the_Order_of_the_Seraphim

/Jonas

Edited August 7, 2013 by GRA

[claudio2574]

Jonas,

I have done some researches in Italian archives, and still do. However, in this case probably the official acts and the newspapers which are available online can help. I will try later with "La Stampa", the most important newspaper from Turin, which has online its full pages.

Giolitti was a very important politician for Italian history. Many cities in Italy have monument and roads with his name.

[GRA]

I've found Lt M in "Sveriges Statskalender"... He's listed on page 721 in the 1915 edition as "Riddare av Kungl. Svärdsorden" (RSO), "Marchiafava, Emilio, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.", no citation. I bet earlier editions wouldn't provide citations either. Lieutenants in their thirties just doesn't walk around getting themselves random foreign decorations without someone noticing sooner or later, so there has to be an official trace somewhere... Regimental histories, perhaps?

/Jonas

[Glenn J]

Emilio Marchiafava is shown as a captain of cavalry (27 June 1913) in the Reggimento Cavalleggeri di Caserta in the 1914 Italian Army List. Foreign decorations are not listed. He was born on 1 November 1876 and commissioned on 9 April 1898.

Regards

Glenn

[claudio2574]

Thank you all.

Marchiafava got the Captain rank in January 1913. He was in the King guard until Oct 2011 (not January as I wrote before)

Thru another forum, I got the list of the other Italian recipients of the Order in 1911:

Riddare av Kungl. Svärdsorden, 2:a kl.
Bongiovanni, Luigi, Italiensk Öv.löjtn., 11.
Calenda, Carlo, Italiensk överste, 11.
Cellario, Giorgio, Italiensk Major, 11.
Galante, Carlo, Italiensk Ryttm., 11.
Miglietti, Giulio Merli, Italiensk överste, 11.
Modignani. Vittorio Litta, Italiensk överste, 11.
Scarampi del Cairo, Maurizio, Italiensk Ryttm., 11.
Simonetti, Giovanni, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.
Tartaglia, Ferdinando, Italiensk Ryttm., 11.
Vegzi di Castelletto, Giuseppe, Italiensk Ryttm., 11.

Riddare av Kungl. Svärdsorden
Berti, Georgio, Italiensk Kapten, 11.
Camicia, Francesco, Italiensk Major, 11.
Camicia, Francesco, Italiensk Gen.löjtn. 11.
Cittadini, Arturo, Italiensk Gen.löjtn., 11.
Cittadini, Arturo, Italiensk Major, 11.
Lang, Giovanni, Italiensk Major, 11
Leoncavallo, Oreste, Italiensk Kapten, 11.
Lippi, Carlo, Italiensk Kapten, 11.
Pucci, Gandolfo, Italiensk Kapten, 11.
Romagnoli, Pietro, Italiensk Kapten, 11.
Veggi di Castelletto, Giuseppe, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.

Kommendörer m. st. k. av Kungl. Svärdsorden.
Kommendörer med stora korset, utom Herrar Serafimerriddare.
Utländska
Brusati, Ugo, Italiensk Gen.löjtn., 11.
Cadorna, Luigi, Greve, Italiensk Gen.löjtn., 11. [Luigi Cadorna was the Commander in chief of Italian Army during WW1 until the defeat of Caporetto, 1917]

Riddare av andra klassen. Utländska.
Barattieri, Massimiliano, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.
Bardin, Eugenio, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.
Cellario, Giorgio, Italiensk Löjtn., 11.

Kommendörer av Kungl. Svärdsorden, 2:a kl.
Calenda, Carlo, Italiensk överste, 11.
Thaon de Revel, Paolo, Hertig, Italiensk Marinminister, 11.
Trombi Vittorio, Greve, Italiensk Gen.major, 11.

Kommendörer ni. st. k. av Kungl. Svärdsorden.
Spingardi, Paolo, Italiensk Gen.löjtn., 11.

Also from the same forum I got a picture of the Swedish King during the visit to Italy:

Thru the website of the newspaper "La Stampa" (http://www.lastampa.it/ , days 26 and 27/4/1911) the report of the visit is available.

Right in this page, it is written that during his visit to the Institute of Agricolture the King Gustav gave the Order of Polar Star to its director, marquis Cappelli. "The baron De Bildt, minister of Sweden in Rome, give hime immediately the coat of arms".

One note about the Italian military archives: the AUSSME (Archivio Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito) is in Rome, and I live close to Rome. I know it well because I searched for the places and the battalion were my father was in service during WW2. The lists of soldiers awarded with medals, however, is not there. Another office (in Rome too) hold them. I've already planned a visit over there in the next months, so I will look for Marchiafava too.

[christerd]

Wow , very interesting story

Fantastic to read the story from document to Royal visit .

Great find !

Christer