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 Pratt Co Power magazine, a periodical published by the Louisville Gas & Electric Company. The ad for Henry Pratt and Company featured water gas generators, condensers, scrubbers, and purifiers, all of which were used in the coal and water gas markets. Henry Pratt, the company’s founder, was an engineer who held numerous patents for the apparatus required in the manufacture of water gas. Water gas is a synthesis gas used from the 1870s to the early 1900s as a source of heat and light in residences and factories. Pratt worked with fabricators in Chicago to produce the high quality equipment needed in