Justin Tuveri | World War I veteran, 109

Justin Tuveri, 109, who fought for Italy during World War I and was one of the few remaining European veterans of the Great War, has died, officials in Paris said Thursday.

Mr. Tuveri, who spent most of his life in France, died Oct. 5 at his home in the southern resort town of St. Tropez, the mayor's office said.

Although he became a French citizen in 1940, he did not appear on the French Defense Ministry's list of surviving veterans from the 1914-18 war because he had fought for Italy. Only two French veterans from the war are still alive, the ministry said.

Mr. Tuveri, born in Collinas on the island of Sardinia in 1898, was a member of the Sassari Brigade, a Sardinian infantry unit nicknamed the "Dimonios" - "Demons" in the island's dialect.

The brigade fought Austro-Hungarian and German forces in the heights of northeastern Italy, suffering 15,000 casualties.

His military service was cut short four months after he joined the fight when he was shot twice in the back during a battle with German forces, the newspaper Le Monde reported.

After his recuperation, Mr. Tuveri emigrated to France, where he worked in a quarry and then as a driver and caretaker for the Greek royal family, Le Monde said. - AP