Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta

Tomislav ll
King of Croatia
King of Croatia
Nominal reign18 May 1941 – 31 July 1943
Prime ministerAnte Pavelić
Duke of Aosta
Reign3 March 1942 – 29 January 1948
PredecessorAmedeo
SuccessorAmedeo
Born(1900-03-09)9 March 1900
Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Died29 January 1948(1948-01-29) (aged 47)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Burial31 January 1948
Spouse
IssuePrince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
Names
Italian: Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino di Savoia-Aosta
HouseSavoy
FatherPrince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
MotherHélène of Orléans

Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta (Aimone Roberto Margherita Maria Giuseppe Torino; 9 March 1900 29 January 1948), was a prince of Italy's reigning House of Savoy and an officer of the Royal Italian Navy. The second son of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, he was granted the title Duke of Spoleto on 22 September 1904. He inherited the title Duke of Aosta on 3 March 1942 following the death of his brother Prince Amedeo in a British prisoner of war camp in Nairobi.

From 18 May 1941 to 31 July 1943, Aimone was designated king of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH), even though he never ruled there. He formally accepted the position and took the name Tomislav II, after the first Croatian king. Later, however, he refused to assume the kingship in protest of the Italian annexation of the Dalmatia region, and is therefore referred to in some sources as king designate. Regardless, many sources refer to him as King Tomislav II and the nominal head of the NDH during its first two years (1941–1943). After the dismissal of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, Aimone abdicated on 31 July as king on the orders of Victor Emmanuel III.