Giuseppe Sapeto

Giuseppe Sapeto (1811 – 24 August 1895) was an Italian priest, linguist, and colonial agent as well as a member of the Order of San Lazaro who traveled the shores of the Red Sea and was one of the proponents of Italian colonial expansionism.

Early life Sapeto was born in 1811 in Carcare, Genoa.

As a representative of the Rubattino Company, he assisted in the first logistical phases of the Assab settlement, under the guidance of Captain De Amezaga, up until the appointment of Gustavo Branchi as Italian Commissioner of Assab. He left Assab in December 1880, never to return.

Death and legacy He died 24 August 1895 in Genoa.

The city of Genoa, where he died, and Rome both have streets named after him in the San Martino district and a central square respectively.

Works

Catholic Journey and Mission among the Mensâ, the Bogos and the Hababs, with a Geographical and Historical Mention of Abyssinia, Tip. of the Holy Congreg. of Propaganda Fide, 1857, original in the Public Library of Lyon (Bibliothèque Jésuite des Fontaines). Italy and the Suez Canal: Popular Operetta, Tip. Pellas, 1863, original at the University of Lausanne. Vulgar Arabic Grammar for Use in Technical Schools, Florence, 1866. "Assab and his Critics", Genoa, Pellas, 1879.