Hugo Pratt origin, his maternal grandfather was of Marrano (Jewish) descent, and his grandmother was of Turkish origin. He was also related to actor Boris Karloff (né William Henry Pratt). In 1937, Pratt moved with his mother to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), joining his father who was working there following the conquest of that country by Benito Mussolini's Italy. Pratt's father, a professional Italian soldier, 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 Dirédaoua, where he would buy
William V. Pratt lived thereafter in Maine and New York City. During World War II, he wrote a regular column for a nationally circulated magazine and spent several months on active Navy Department duty in 1941 studying measures to counter the German submarine threat. Pratt died in 1957. Like his father, Pratt was a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. In 1960, the destroyer USS "William V. Pratt" (DLG-13, later DDG-44) was named in honor of Admiral Pratt. William V. Pratt William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 – 25 November