King Michael of Romania, who was credited with pre-emptively saving thousands of lives in World War II when, at 22, he had the audacity to arrest the country’s dictator, a puppet of Hitler, died on Tuesday at his residence in Switzerland. He was 96.

His death was announced in a statement from the royal family. King Michael cited a diagnosis of cancer when withdrawing from public duties last year.

The king was often remembered for distinctions that were not of his own making. He is, for example, said to have been the only man to both precede and succeed his own father as king.