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
Henry Conger Pratt Vlick Conger. In 1909, while serving as a military aide in Washington, D.C., Pratt met Sadie DeRussy Murray, 20-year-old daughter of Brigadier General Arthur Murray, the Chief of Coast Artillery, at her debut. In October 1913, while stationed in California, the couple became engaged and married on February 7, 1914. They remained wedded until her death in October 1963. Pratt is the third generation of his family to serve in the United States Armed Forces. His father, Captain Henry Clitz Pratt, was a member of the 13th Infantry. In 1862, his father became a lieutenant in the New York Volunteers