1. Giacomo Bove sailed with Adolf Erik Nordenskiold on the first voyage through the north-east passage, and later explored Tierra del Fuego and the Congo River.
27 Facts About Giacomo Bove
1. 2.
Giacomo Bove was born in Maranzana, Asti, Piedmont, on 23 April 1852 to Francesco Bove and Antonia Garbarino.
3.
Giacomo Bove's family owned a vineyard and made wine for sale.
4.
Giacomo Bove went to primary school in Maranzana and then in Acqui Terme, before being admitted to the Naval Academy in Genoa.
5.
Giacomo Bove graduated with honors, and was able to serve as a midshipman on the scientific expedition of the Governolo to the Far East.
6.
On 24 September 1876 Bove was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant.
7.
In 1878 Lieutenant Giacomo Bove was chosen to participate in the Vega expedition of Adolf Erik Nordenskiold to search for the north-east passage.
8.
Giacomo Bove represented Italy on the expedition, and acted as sailing master.
9.
Giacomo Bove was in charge of the chronometers and made the astronomical observations needed to fix the ship's position.
10.
On his return to Europe, Giacomo Bove was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by King Christian IX of Denmark.
11.
Giacomo Bove devoted his efforts to organizing an expedition to the Antarctic to continue the scientific observations that had been made by the English navigator James Clark Ross.
12.
Giacomo Bove wanted to sail westward around Antarctica, staying as far south as possible.
13.
Giacomo Bove's idea was endorsed by Cristoforo Negri, President of the Italian Geographic Society, but the newly formed Italian state was not able to afford the cost.
14.
Giacomo Bove visited Argentina, where he made contact with Dr Estanislao Zeballos of the Argentine Geographic Institute.
15.
Where Giacomo Bove had wanted to stop at Tierra del Fuego, then explore the coast of Graham Land, circumnavigate Antarctica and return north to Cape Town, the modified plan for the Expedicion Austral Argentina had exploration of the coasts of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados as its main goal.
16.
On 7 June 1881 Giacomo Bove married Louise Bruzzone, a widow.
17.
Giacomo Bove's group left Buenos Aires on 17 December 1881 in the corvette Cabo de Hornos commanded by Luis Piedrabuena.
18.
Giacomo Bove became impatient with the corvette's slow progress and rode to Punta Arenas where he hired the San Jose, a smaller and more manoeuvrable vessel, more suitable for the local conditions.
19.
On 28 January 1883 Giacomo Bove was named an honorary member of the Italian Geographic Society.
20.
Giacomo Bove made a second voyage to Argentina, again funded by Argentina, sailing from Genoa on 3 July 1883 on the steamer Sud America.
21.
Giacomo Bove reached Buenos Aires later that month with two Italians, Carlo Bossetti and Adam Lucchesi.
22.
On this expedition Giacomo Bove was able to collect 25 large boxes of anthropological, ethnographic, zoological and botanical material.
23.
On 2 December 1885 Giacomo Bove set out to examine the Congo River in Africa.
24.
Giacomo Bove, accompanied by Captain Giuseppe Fabrello and Enrico Stassano, left Liverpool, England, on 2 December 1885.
25.
Giacomo Bove observed that England, France and Germany were well-established, leaving little room for an Italian presence.
26.
Giacomo Bove was disappointed by the Lower Congo region, which does not have rich vegetation, and had few people and little wildlife.
27.
Giacomo Bove made a pessimistic report on the potential for Italian involvement in the Congo, stressing the difficulty of the climate.