John Maria Gatti
Sir John Maria Emilio Gatti (13 August 1872 – 14 September 1929) was an Anglo-Swiss theatre manager, restaurateur and businessman who was also a promininent Conservative politician in London local government.[1]
Born as Joannes Maria Aemilius in Dongio, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, he was the eldest son of the entrepreneur Agostino Gatti.[1][2] The Gatti family had built up a large family business in Westminster, including the Adelphi and Vaudeville Theatres, a string of cafe-restaurants and the Charing Cross and Strand Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd, which supplied power to most of the West End of London.[1]
Gatti was educated at Stonyhurst College and St John's College, Oxford, before being called to the bar at the Inner Temple.[1][2] He married Lily Mary Lloyd in 1897 and they had seven children.[1] In the same year his father died, and he took over the family businesses along with his younger brother Rocco Joseph Stefano Gatti.[1]
His business interests, in particular the construction of electricity infrastructure, led him to become interested in the local government of the capital.[1] In 1903 he was elected to Westminster City Council as a representative of the Charing Cross ward.[3] He was a member of the Conservative-backed majority Moderate Party on the council, and was elected Mayor of Westminster for 1911–1912.[4]
In 1908 he was a founding member of the Society of West End Theatre Managers.[5] In 1919–1920 he was chairman of the society, and was involved in negotiating a standard theatrical contract for West End performers.[6]
In 1918 Gatti was co-opted onto the London County Council as a Municipal Reform Party councillor for the Strand division. When elections resumed after World War I, he was elected a councillor for the Westminster Abbey division, holding the seat until his death.[7] Gatti was short-listed to be Official Conservative candidate for the Westminster Abbey by-election in 1924, but lost out to Otho Nicholson who won the poll.[8]
He served as chairman of the county council's finance committee for six years, and was chairman of the county council in 1927–1928.[2][9] At the end of his term as chairman he received a knighthood.[10]
Sir John Gatti died suddenly at Littleton Golf Club in September 1929 aged 57.[2]
References
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- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33398. p. 4410. 29 June 1928.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chairman of the London County Council 1927–1928 |
Succeeded by Cecil Levita |
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1872 births
- 1929 deaths
- Members of London County Council
- Members of the Inner Temple
- People educated at Stonyhurst College
- Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
- British restaurateurs
- Municipal Reform Party politicians
- Members of Westminster Metropolitan Borough Council
- Mayors of places in Greater London
- Conservative Party (UK) politicians
