Attilio Gatti (Voghera (Lombardy, Italy) 10 July 1896 - Derby Line (Vermont, USA) 1 July 1969)[1] was an Italian-born explorer, author, and documentary filmmaker who traveled extensively in Africa in the first half of the 20th century.[2]
Attilio Gatti | |
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Born | |
Died | 1 July 1969 Derby Line, Vermont, United States | (aged 72)
Occupations |
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Spouse |
Ellen Gatti (died 1962) |
Gatti, a member of the Società Reale Italiana di Geografia ed Antropologia, was among the last great safari expedition men. He led thirteen expeditions to Africa starting in 1922.[3] Broke after the financial disaster of his 7th African expedition, Gatti settled in the US in 1930. His second spouse Ellen[4] accompanied him on his 8th expedition. They did the 10th (in Belgian Congo, 1938–1940) and 11th expeditions ("To the Mountains of the Moon" i.e. the Rwenzori Mountains at the border of Uganda, 1947–1948) with a caravan of motor vehicles including a 9-ton "Jungle Yacht", custom built by International Harvester in Chicago.[5]
Gatti became one of the first Europeans to see and capture the fabled okapi and bongo, a brown lyre-horned antelope with white stripes. He was an enthusiastic amateur radio operator using callsign OQ5ZZ. Known as "Bwana Makubwa", he was very familiar to the Pygmy tribe. He photographed them as well as the Watussi and Masai.[citation needed]
His books, articles, and some 53,000 photos have become invaluable scientific and anthropological resources.[citation needed]
Ellen Gatti: Exploring We Would Go. 1944 (autobiography)