Editing Hugo Pratt

{{Short description|Italian comic book artist (1927–1995)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox comics creator
 
| image         = Hugo_Pratt_(1989)_by_Erling_Mandelmann_-_2.jpg
| caption       = Pratt in 1989
| birth_name    = Ugo Eugenio Prat
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1927|6|15|df=y}}
| birth_place   =  [[Rimini]], Kingdom of Italy
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1995|8|20|1927|6|15|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Grandvaux]], Switzerland
| area          = {{flatlist|
*Writer
*artist
}}
| alias         = 
| notable works = {{plainlist|
*''[[Corto Maltese]]''
*''Gli scorpioni del deserto''
*''Jesuit Joe''
}}
| awards        = [[#Awards|Full list]]
}}

'''Ugo Eugenio Prat''' (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), better known as '''Hugo Pratt''', was an Italian [[Glossary of comics terminology#Division of labour|comic book creator]] who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as ''[[Corto Maltese]]''. He was inducted into the [[List of Eisner Award winners#The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]] in 2005, and was awarded the 15th anniversary special [[Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême]] at the Angoulême Festival. In 1946 Hugo Pratt became part of the so-called Group of Venice with [[Fernando Carcupino]], [[Dino Battaglia]] and [[Damiano Damiani]].

==Biography==

===Early years===
Born in [[Rimini]], Italy, to Rolando Prat and Evelina (Genero) Prat, Ugo Eugenio Prat spent much of his childhood in [[Venice]] in a very cosmopolitan family environment. His paternal grandfather Joseph was [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] of [[England|English]] and [[Provence|Provençal]] origins, his maternal grandfather was of hidden [[Jews|Jewish]] descent and his grandmother was of Turkish origin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cong-pratt.com/en/hugo-pratt/biography/|url-status=dead|website=cong-pratt.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820135036/www.cong-pratt.com/en/hugo-pratt/biography/|archive-date=2021-08-20|title=HUGO PRATT}}</ref> In 1937, Pratt moved with his mother to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), joining his father who had moved there following the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|conquest of that country]] by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[Fascist Italy|Italy]]. Pratt's father, a [[Blackshirts|MVSN]] NCO, was captured in 1941 by British troops and, in late 1942, died from disease as a prisoner of war. The same year, Hugo Pratt and his mother were interned in a prison camp at [[Dire Dawa|Dirédaoua]], where he would buy comics from guards, and later was sent back to Italy by the Red Cross.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

After the war, Pratt moved to Venice where he organized entertainment for the Allied troops. Later Pratt joined the Venice Group with other Italian cartoonists, including [[Alberto Ongaro]], Gian Carlo Guarda<ref>Saggio, Antonio. "On the Rooftops of Venice: In Search of Corto Maltese"</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arc1.uniroma1.it/saggio/|title=Antonino Saggio, Home Prof. Antonino Saggio Official Web Site, La Sapienza Architecture Rome Italy|website=www.arc1.uniroma1.it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Amazon.com | website=Amazon.com | url=http://www.amazon.com/Rooftops-Venice-Search-Corto-Maltese/dp/B08TZ2RVYS/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= | access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref> and [[Mario Faustinelli]]. Their magazine ''Asso di Picche'', launched in 1945 as ''Albo Uragano'', concentrated on [[Action fiction#Comics|adventure comics]]. The magazine scored some success and published works by young talents, including [[Dino Battaglia]]. His eponymous character ''[[Asso di Picche]]'' (''Ace of Spades'') was a success, mainly in [[Argentina]], where Pratt was invited in 1949.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

===Argentine years===
[[File:Hugo Pratt (1989) by Erling Mandelmann.jpg|thumb|Pratt in 1989]]
In the late 1940s he moved to [[Buenos Aires]], where he worked for Argentine publisher Editorial Abril and met Argentine comics artists such as [[Alberto Breccia]] and [[Francisco Solano López (comics)|Solano López]]. The passage to [[Editorial Frontera]] saw the publication of some of his most important early series. These included ''[[Sergeant Kirk]]'' and ''[[Ernie Pike]]'', written by [[Héctor Germán Oesterheld]].

Pratt taught drawing in the Escuela Panamericana de Arte directed by Enrique Lipszyc. He often travelled to [[South America]]n destinations such as the [[Amazon basin|Amazon]] and [[Mato Grosso]]. During that period he produced his first comic book as a complete author, both writing and illustrating ''[[Anna della jungla]]'' (''Ann of the Jungle''), which was followed by the similar ''[[Capitan Cormorant]]'' and ''[[Fort Wheeling|Wheeling]]''. The latter was completed after his return to Italy.

===Return to Italy and the creation of Corto Maltese===
[[Image:Pratt-corto1.jpg|thumb|230px|Cover of Italian publication ''[[The Ballad of the Salty Sea|Una ballata del mare salato]]'']]
From the summer of 1959 to the summer of 1960, Pratt lived in London where he drew a series of war comics for [[Fleetway Publications]], with British scriptwriters. He then returned to Argentina, despite the harsh economic times there. From there, he moved again to Italy in 1962 where he started a collaboration with the children's comic book magazine ''[[Corriere dei Piccoli]]'', for which he adapted several classics of adventure literature, including ''[[Treasure Island]]'' and ''[[Kidnapped (novel)|Kidnapped]]'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]].

In 1967, Pratt met Florenzo Ivaldi; the two created a comics magazine named after his character, ''[[Sergeant Kirk]]'', the hero first written by [[Héctor Germán Oesterheld|Héctor Oesterheld]]. Pratt's most famous story, ''[[The Ballad of the Salty Sea|Una ballata del mare salato]] (A Ballad of the Salty Sea)'', is published in the first issue and introduced his best-known character, [[Corto Maltese]].

Corto's series continued three years later in the French magazine ''[[Pif Gadget]]''. Due to his rather mixed family ancestry, Pratt had learned snippets of things such as [[Kabbalah|kabbalism]] and much history. Many of his stories are placed in real historical eras and deal with real events: the 1755 war between French and British colonists in [[Fort Ticonderoga|Ticonderoga]], colonial wars in Africa and both [[world war]]s, for example. Pratt did exhaustive research for factual and visual details, and some characters are real historical figures or loosely based on them, such as Corto's main friend/enemy, Rasputin. Many of the minor characters cross over into other stories in a way that places all of Pratt’s stories into the same continuum.

Pratt's main series in the second part of his career include ''Gli scorpioni del deserto'' (five stories) and ''[[Jesuit Joe]]''. He also wrote stories for his friend and pupil [[Milo Manara]] for ''Tutto ricominciò con un'estate indiana'' and ''El Gaucho''.

===Later years===
From 1970 to 1984, Pratt lived mainly in France where Corto Maltese, a psychologically very complex character resulting from the travel experiences and the endless inventive capacity of his author, became the main character of a comics series. Initially published from 1970 to 1973 by the magazine ''Pif Gadget'', it brought him much popular and critical success. Later published in album format, this series was eventually translated into fifteen languages. From 1984–95 he lived in Switzerland, where the international success that Corto Maltese sparked continued to grow. In France, most of his pre-Corto Maltese works were published in several album editions by publishers such as [[Casterman]], [[Dargaud]], and [[Les Humanoïdes Associés]]. A wanderer by nature, Hugo Pratt continued to travel from Canada to Patagonia, from Africa to the Pacific area. He died of [[Colorectal cancer|bowel cancer]] on 20 August 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-hugo-pratt-1598750.html|work=[[The Independent]]|title= OBITUARY: Hugo Pratt|author=James Kirkup|date=30 August 1995}}</ref>

Pratt cited authors such as [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], [[James Oliver Curwood]], [[Zane Grey]], [[Kenneth Roberts (author)|Kenneth Roberts]], [[Henry De Vere Stacpoole]], [[Joseph Conrad]], [[James Fenimore Cooper|Fenimore Cooper]], [[Herman Melville]] and [[Jack London]] as influences, along with cartoonists [[Lyman Young]], [[Will Eisner]], and especially [[Milton Caniff]].{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

On Friday, 15 July 2005, at [[San Diego Comic-Con]]'s 17th Annual [[Eisner Awards|Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards]], he was one of four professionals that year inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

One of the series created by Pratt, entitled "The Scorpions of the Desert" in English, has been continued after Pratt's death. In 2005 a sixth volume in this series was released, drawn by Pierre Wazeem and entitled "Le chemin de fièvre". A seventh album was scheduled by the French publishers Casterman for release in March 2008. Casterman have also on several occasions hinted at the possible future release of a further episode in the Corto Maltese saga.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

In 2015, IDW Publishing's [[List of EuroComics publications|EuroComics]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://euro.idwpublishing.com/catalog/corto/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110212256/euro.idwpublishing.com/catalog/corto/|archive-date=2017-01-10|website=euro.idwpublishing.com|title=Corto Maltese}}</ref> imprint launched the definitive English-language edition of Corto Maltese, with new translations made from Pratt's original Italian scripts.

==Documentaries==
Swiss director [[Stefano Knuchel]] started a trilogy of documentaries about Pratt, releasing ''Hugo en Afrique'' in 2009, followed by ''Hugo in Argentina'' in 2021.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.laregione.ch/culture/spettacoli/1536391/pratt-argentina-knuchel-hugo-hugo-stefano-tracce-ugo
| title =Stefano Knuchel sulle tracce di Hugo Pratt
| last =Brusaporco
| first =Ugo
| date =2021-09-19
| publisher =La Regione
| access-date =2024-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.fred.fm/stefano-knuchel-vittoria-fiumi-hugo-in-argentina-giornate2021/
| title =Stefano Knuchel, Vittoria Fiumi – Hugo in Argentina #Giornate2021
| date =2021-09-08
| publisher =Fred FM
| access-date =2024-04-26}}</ref> In 2022, Knuchel announced working on the third part of the trilogy, ''Hugo in Venice''.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://businessdoceurope.com/sunny-side-arts-culture-pitch-hugo-in-venice-by-stefano-knuchel/
| title =Sunny Side Arts/Culture pitch: Hugo in Venice by Stefano Knuchel
| last =Cunningham
| first =Nick
| date =2022-06-22
| publisher =Business Doc Europa
| access-date =2024-04-26}}</ref>

==Awards==
* 1969: {{Interlanguage link|Gran Guinigi|it}} per il disegnatore italiano (award for an Italian artist) at the [[Lucca Comics & Games]], for ''[[The Ballad of the Salty Sea|Una ballata del mare salato]]''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Centro Studi Iconografici|url=http://www.immaginecentrostudi.org/saloni/salone05.asp |title=5 Salone Internazionale dei Comics|language=it}}</ref>
* 1974: [[Prix Saint-Michel]], for the best realistic story
* 1976: [[Angoulême International Comics Festival|Angoulême Festival]], [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album#1970s|Best foreign realistic comic book]], for ''La ballade de la mer salée''<ref name="toutenBD-awards76">{{cite web|url=http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=848 |title=Le Palmarès 1976 |work=ToutEnBD |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313075212/http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=848 |archive-date=2007-03-13 }}</ref>
* 1981: Angoulême Festival, [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Media award|Elle award]]<ref name="toutenBD-awards81">{{cite web | url =http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=845 | title =Le Palmarès 1981 | work =ToutEnBD | language =fr | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071212193357/http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=845 | archive-date =2007-12-12 }}</ref>
* 1987: Angoulême Festival, [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album#1980s|Best foreign comic book]], for ''Indian Summer''<ref name="toutenBD-awards87">{{cite web | url =http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=839 | title =Le Palmarès 1987 | work =ToutEnBD | language =fr | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071212193327/http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=839 | archive-date =2007-12-12 }}</ref>
* 1988: Angoulême Festival, 15th anniversary special [[Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême]]<ref name="toutenBD-awards88">{{cite web|url=http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=838 |title=Le Palmarès 1988 |work=ToutEnBD |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207232502/http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=838 |archive-date=2012-02-07 }}</ref>
* 1994: [[International Cartoonists Exhibition]], [[U Giancu's Prize]]
* 1996: [[Max und Moritz Award|Max & Moritz Prizes]], Germany, Best German language comic import, for ''Saint-Exupéry - le dernier vol''
* 2005: inducted into the [[Eisner Awards|Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame]]

==Main works==
*''[[Asso di Picche]]'' (''L'As de pique'', ''Ace of Spades'', 1945–1949)
*''[[Sergeant Kirk|El Sargento Kirk]]'' (''Sergeant Kirk'', 1953–1959), written by [[Héctor Germán Oesterheld|Héctor Oesterheld]]
*''Ticonderoga'' (1957–1958), written by Héctor Oesterheld
*''[[Ernie Pike]]'' (1957–1959), written by Héctor Oesterheld
*''Ann y Dan'' (''Anna nella giungla'', ''Ann of the Jungle'', ''Ann de la jungle'', 1959)
*''Capitan Cormorant'' (1962)
*''[[Fort Wheeling|Wheeling]]'' (1962)
*''[[Corto Maltese]]'' (1967–1992)
**''[[The Ballad of the Salty Sea|Una ballata del mare salato]]'' (1967) - translated into English as ''Ballad of The Salt Sea'' (Harvill Press 1996)
**''Il segreto di Tristan Bantam'' (1970)
**''Corto toujours un peu plus loin'' - partly translated into English as ''The Banana Conga'' (1970-1971)
**''[[Celtic Tales (Corto Maltese)|Le Celtiche]]'' (1972) - translated into English as ''The Celts'', (Harvill Press 1996) and ''A Mid-Winter Morning's Dream'' (1971–1972)
**''Le Etiopiche'' (1972–1973)
**''Corte Sconta detta Arcana'' (1974)
**''Favola di Venezia'' (1976)
**''[[The Golden House of Samarkand|La casa dorata di Samarcanda]]'' (1980)
**''La giovinezza'' (1981)
**''Tango'' (1985)
**''Le elvetiche "Rosa Alchemica"'' (1987)
**''Mu'' (1988)
*''Gli scorpioni del deserto'' - ''Les Scorpions du Desert'', ''The Scorpions of the Desert'' (1969–92)
**''Les Scorpions du désert'' (Episode 1, 1969–73)
**''Piccolo chalet...'' (1975)
**''Vanghe Dancale'' (1980)
**''Dry Martini Parlor'' (1982)
**''Brise de mer'' (1992)
*''L'uomo dei Caraibi'' (1977)
*''L'uomo del Sertao'' (1977)
*''L'uomo della Somalia'' (1979)
*''L'uomo del gran nord'' - ''[[Jesuit Joe]]'' (1980)
*''Tutto ricominciò con un'estate indiana'' (''Indian Summer'', 1983, with [[Milo Manara]])
*''Cato Zulu'' (1984–88)
*''El Gaucho'' (1991), with Milo Manara
*''Saint-Exupéry - le dernier vol'' (1994)
*''Morgan'' (1995)

==See also==
* [[Italian comics]]
* ''[[Sequential art|Letteratura disegnata]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://www.lfb.it/fff/fumetto/aut/p/pratt.htm Hugo Pratt dossier] FFF {{in lang|it}}
* [http://bdoubliees.com/vaillantpif/auteurs4/pratt.htm Hugo Pratt publications in ''Pif''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221231245/http://bdoubliees.com/vaillantpif/auteurs4/pratt.htm |date=2007-02-21 }},  [http://bdoubliees.com/asuivre/auteurs5/pratt.htm ''(A SUIVRE)''], [http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/auteurs4/pratt.htm ''Pilote''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221230422/http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/auteurs4/pratt.htm |date=2007-02-21 }} and [http://bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/auteurs4/pratt.htm ''Le journal de Tintin''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221231510/http://bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/auteurs4/pratt.htm |date=2007-02-21 }} BDoubliées {{in lang|fr}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Helveticat}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081123085842/http://www.hugopratt.com/ Hugo Pratt official website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310171956/http://www.archivespratt.net/ Hugo Pratt Archives]
* [http://lambiek.net/artists/p/pratt_h.htm Hugo Pratt biography] on Lambiek 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090501112854/http://www.paulgravett.com/biography/biography.htm Biography by Paul Gravett] Retrieved 14-05-2009
* [http://www.hugoinafrica.com Hugo in Africa - a film by Stefano Knuchel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418014319/http://www.hugoinafrica.com/ |date=2019-04-18 }}
* [http://www.lacasadicorto.it/indexEN.html La Casa di Corto Maltese - House Museum]

{{Hugo Pratt}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Hugo}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Italian graphic novelists]]
[[Category:People from Rimini]]
[[Category:Artists from Venice]]
[[Category:Italian comics artists]]
[[Category:Italian comics writers]]
[[Category:Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian novelists]]
[[Category:Italian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners]]
[[Category:Pilote]]