Rome, 28 June (Labitalia) – Yesterday, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the return to Anzio of the motor sailer San Giuseppe Due, the presentation of the photographic volume ‘1973-74. The Italian Antarctic Expedition. The Second Voyage of Ajmone-Cat’ was held in Rome at the Circolo Sottufficiali della Marina Militare Italiana.
Edited by Andrea Cafà, president of the MuMa Museum, the book collects the photos of the traveling exhibition Ancora Sottozero. Inaugurated in Anzio at Villa Sarsina in 2015, the exhibition has touched several seaside cities in recent years, obtaining good public success. The commitment of the MuMa, Anzio Maritime Museum, in spreading the stories of the sea and the polar enterprises of the commander Ajmone-Cat is remarkable.
Starting on 1 July 1973 from Torre del Greco, the second expedition of Commander Giovanni Ajmone-Cat to Antarctica was sponsored by the Italian Navy and the Naval League – four non-commissioned officers: Mario Camilli, Tito Mancini, Giovanni Federici, Giancarlo Fede and Dario Trentin, friend of the commander – completing the previous exploratory trip of 1969-1971. Ajmone-Cat, in fact, was the first Italian to plant the tricolor on that land. Departing from Anzio, the San Giuseppe Due was a particular vessel built in the Torre Del Greco shipyards by master shipwrights Gerolamo and Giuseppe Palomba.
Curator Andrea Cafà expressed great satisfaction with the result achieved by the MuMa Museum with the publication of the photographic volume: “The book is arousing a lot of interest. There are many requests from nautical clubs and sailing enthusiasts. We will ensure that they are all satisfied. I would like to thank the CIFA Italia business association, which has committed to supporting and promoting this beautiful volume, a precious testimony to a great Italian adventure. Finally, thanks to Rita Ajmone-Cat and Tito Mancini for having kindly offered the photographic documentation of the expedition”.
And it is in Anzio, at the Circolo della Vela, that on 6 July, at 5pm, the volume will have its second meeting with the public on the occasion of the Ajmone-Cat Challenge Trophy Regatta, now in its ninth edition, conceived by MuMa with the precious collaboration of the Sailing Club. The president of the Circolo della Vela di Roma and the former president Mario de Grenet will be present.
