He was born in Milan on March 23, 1888, and after attending the
Military Academy of Modena he graduated with the rank of
second lieutenant in 1910. In 1911-1912 he fought in
Libya during the
Italo-Turkish War, serving with the "Edolo" Alpini Battalion and being awarded a
Silver Medal of Military Valor (for his behavior during an action in Bu Mofer on 10 October 1912) and two
bronze medals as well as promotion to
lieutenant for merit of war on December 19, 1912. During the
Great War he fought on the
Tonale and the
Dolomites with the
5th Alpini Regiment; on 25 August 1915 he led the capture of Cima Payer, in the
Adamello mountains, and on 14 September he led a
bayonet charge which resulted in the capture of Point 2,902, for which he was awarded another silver medal for Military Valor. His unit, known as "Centuria Valcamonica", was the protagonist of daring enterprises during the
White War until De Castiglioni was seriously wounded by an artillery shell, which resulted in the loss of his right hand. He also suffered toe amputation of several toes due to
frostbite. In 1917, after recovering from his wounds, he was assigned to the Supreme Command as a
staff officer, with the rank of
major; in the final year of the war he served as
liaison officer between the Supreme Command and
Lord Cavan, commander of the
Tenth Army. After the end of the war, between 1921 and 1922 he attended the Army School of War, and in 1926 he assumed command of the "Edolo" Alpini Battalion. After promotion to
colonel in 1934, he held various offices within the War School and the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army, after which he assumed command of the
2nd Alpini Regiment. From 1937 he was assigned to the Ministry of War, and in January 1940 he was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier General. With Italy's entry into the
Second World War on 10 June 1940, he assumed the position of Chief of Operations of the General Staff, a post he held for over two years. On 1 October 1942, after promotion to
Major General, he assumed command of the
5th Alpine Division "Pusteria", which had recently returned from
Yugoslavia and was being reorganized in
Liguria, in the
La Spezia area. After
Operation Anton, the Division was transferred to
southern France for occupation duties; during this period, De Castiglioni resisted German demands to hand over
Jewish refugees who had fled to his region from German-occupied France, and ordered the head of the French police in the region to release Jews who had been arrested under the
Vichy regime. After the
Armistice of Cassibile he managed to escape capture by German troops and reached
southern Italy, where he resumed service with the Ministry of War, participating in the reconstruction of the
Italian Co-belligerent Army. After the end of the war he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant general and held the posts of territorial military commander of
Palermo, commander of the
"Aosta" Internal Security Division in
Messina, territorial military commander of
Padua and then of
Verona. In 1951 he became Commander of
Allied Land Forces Southern Europe, but retired due reaching age limit on 30 August 1952. De Castiglioni had two sons, Vittorio and Camillo de'Castiglioni. Camillo had three children, Marzia, Alberto and Nicolò, whose daughter is Carolina de' Castiglioni, an accomplished actress and writer. He died in
Rome in 1962. ==References==