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 mayor of the city in 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

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Barber, Peter (September 2004). "Sir John Maria Emilio Gatti (1872–1929) in Gatti family (per. 1847–1981), restaurateurs, theatre owners, and entrepreneurs". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/53168/53171?back=,53168. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Sir John Gatti". The Times: p. 4. 16 September 1929. 
  3. ^ "London Borough Council Elections". The Times: p. 11. 4 November 1903. 
  4. ^ "The Mayoral Elections. List for London and the Country". The Times: p. 7. 10 November 1911. 
  5. ^ "Society of West End Theatre Managers". The Times: p. 17. 24 April 1908. 
  6. ^ "Actor's Trade Union, The First Year's Work". The Times: p. 8. 2 January 1920. 
  7. ^ "LCC Elections". The Times: p. 14. 8 March 1919. 
  8. ^ "The Abbey Seat, Official Candidate Chosen". The Times: p. 14. 4 March 1924. 
  9. ^ "London County Council. Sale Of Surplus Lands.". The Times: p. 16. 9 March 1927. 
  10. ^ London Gazette: no. 33398. p. 4410. 29 June 1928.
Political offices
Preceded by
Sir George Hume		 Chairman of the London County Council
1927–1928		 Succeeded by
Cecil Levita