A Centenary Commemoration

Mario Pratesi

English Italiano

The Pratesi Family

The records in this series pay tribute to members of the Pratesi family.

The Pratesi family tree. Information was compiled by Igino Pratesi, Mario Pratesi’s father.

Pratesi family tree, 1868. Mario Pratesi fonds, F69. 2017.12, Box 2/OS. Victoria University Library Special Collections.

Dante Pratesi in military uniform, [n.d.].
Dante Pratesi in military uniform, [n.d.]. Mario Pratesi fonds, F69. 2011.06, Box 1, File 3, P07. Victoria University Library Special Collections.

Dante Pratesi (1840-1917). Dante was the sibling Pratesi felt closest to, although their relationship was not always smooth. A military man, he received many medals for his courageous efforts in various campaigns. Upon retirement from active duty, he took a post as professor of Geography at the Military College in Florence.


Gino Bandini, July 1917.
Gino Bandini, July 1917. From the private collection of Anne Urbancic.

Gino Bandini (1881-1948), a distant cousin of Pratesi, he was a lawyer, journalist and politician and after 1926, the General Manager for Italcable, the communications company that built the undersea telegraph connections between Italy and Argentina. Pratesi entrusted his papers and documents to him.


Mario Pratesi’s dog, Speranza, [n.d.].
Mario Pratesi’s dog, Speranza, [n.d.]. Mario Pratesi fonds, F69. 2009.19, Box 5, File 10, P01. Victoria University Library Special Collections.

Pratesi had several dogs throughout his life, including Nicchi Nacchi and Speranza. The latter, pictured here around the year 1900, appears also in the novel Il peccato del dottore.


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Photography by klau53 at flickr