Attilio Gatti (10 July 1896 - 1 July 1969) was an Italian-born explorer, author, and documentary filmmaker who traveled extensively in Africa in the first half of the 20th century.

Expeditions

Gatti, a member of the ''Società Reale Italiana di Geografia ed Antropologia'', was among the last great

safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

expedition men. He led thirteen expeditions to Africa starting in 1922. Broke after the financial disaster of his 7th African expedition, Gatti settled in the US in 1930. His second spouse Ellen 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 The Rwenzori (also known as the Ruwenzori, Rwenzururu or Rwenjura) are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , ...

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 The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

in Chicago. Gatti became one of the first Europeans to see and capture the fabled

okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe and zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. However, non-invasive gen ...

and bongo, a brown lyre-horned antelope with white stripes. He was an enthusiastic

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operator using

callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assi ...

OQ5ZZ. Known as "Bwana Makubwa", he was very familiar to the

Pygmy In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a po ...

tribe. He photographed them as well as the Watussi and Masai. His books, articles, and some 53,000 photos have become invaluable scientific and anthropological resources.

Books

* Gatti, Attilio. ''Tom-toms in the Night''. London : Hutchinson & Co, 1932, 285 p., fig. (includes: ''The King of the Gorillas''. 1932) * ''Black Mist''. 1933 * Gatti, Ellen ; Gatti, Attilio. ''Hidden Africa''. London : Hutchinson & co. ltd, 1933. 286 p., ill. * Gatti, Attilio. ''Musungu : romanzo''. Milano : Editrice Genio, 1933, 247 p., ill. * Gatti, Attilio. ''Great Mother Forest''. London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1936. 344 p. * Gatti, Attilio. ''Saranga the Pigmy''. Ill. by Kurt Wiese. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1939, 226 p. (trad. in Italian: ''Saranga il cacciatore''. 1941) * ''Kamanda: An African Boy''. 1941 (with ill. by Ellen Gatti) * ''The Wrath of Moto''. 1941 * Gatti, Attilio. ''Adventure in black and white''. Ill. by Kurt Wiese. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1943. 172 p., ill. * Gatti, Ellen ; Gatti, Attilio. ''Here is Africa''. Ill. with photographs by Attilio Gatti and others ; maps by Raymond Lufkin. New York : Scribner's Sons, 1943, 166 p., carte, fig. * Gatti, Attilio. ''Killers all !''. New York : R.M. McBride & c°, 1943, 245 p., ill. * ''Mediterranean Spotlights''. 1944 * ''South of the Sahara: Perilous Encounters with Big Game and Strange Peoples in the African Wilds''. 1945 * ''Here Is the Veld''. 1948 * ''Kamanda on Safari''. (1953?) * ''Jungle Killers''. 1958 * Gatti, Attilio. ''Africa is adventure''. New York : Messner, 1959, 249 p. * Gatti, Ellen ; Gatti, Attilio.''The New Africa''. Ill. with phot. by the authors and others ; maps by Rafael Palacios. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, World background books, 1960, X, 213 p., ill. * ''Sangoma''. 1962 * ''Bapuka''. 1963 Ellen Gatti: ''Exploring We Would Go''. 1944 (autobiography)

Movies

* ''Siliva Zulu: Storia Negra in 5 Parti'' (Italy 1927/1928; silent film; with anthropologist professor Lidio Cipriani) * ''Tramonto dei blasoni'' (Italy 1928; silent film) * ''Perils of the Jungle'' (USA 1941) * ''Bitter Spears'' (USA 1956; remake of "Siliva the Zulu")

References

External links

Goodbye Forever to Africa!
Source: International Trucks, power Gatti-Hallicrafters Expedition, part 1

* ttp://1940s.org/history/commander-gattis-jungle-yacht-and-african-expedition/ Commander Gattis Jungle Yacht and African Expedition {{DEFAULTSORT:Gatti, Attilio Italian explorers 1896 births 1969 deaths Amateur radio people