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 prominent Conservative politician in London local government.[1]

Born as Joannes Maria Aemilius Gatti 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
  1. 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. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  2. "Sir John Gatti". The Times. 16 September 1929. p. 4.
  3. "London Borough Council Elections". The Times. 4 November 1903. p. 11.
  4. "The Mayoral Elections. List for London and the Country". The Times. 10 November 1911. p. 7.
  5. "Society of West End Theatre Managers". The Times. 24 April 1908. p. 17.
  6. "Actor's Trade Union, The First Year's Work". The Times. 2 January 1920. p. 8.
  7. "LCC Elections". The Times. 8 March 1919. p. 14.
  8. "The Abbey Seat, Official Candidate Chosen". The Times. 4 March 1924. p. 14.
  9. "London County Council. Sale Of Surplus Lands". The Times. 9 March 1927. p. 16.
  10. "No. 33398". The London Gazette. 29 June 1928. p. 4410.
Political offices
Preceded by
Sir George Hume		 Chairman of the London County Council
1927–1928		 Succeeded by
Cecil Levita
Preceded by
Alfred Fowell Buxton		 Chairman of the Finance Committee of London County Council
1920–1927		 Succeeded by
Angus Scott
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