Romolo Gessi

Romolo Gessi (april 30, 1831 - May 1, 1881), also called Gessi Pasha, was an Italian soldier and an explorer of north-east Africa, especially Sudan and the Nile River.

Gessi was born in Ravenna, in Romagna. He acquired his military experience serving in the volunteer corps of Garibaldi in 1859 and 1860. He was one of numerous Garibaldi volunteers who went on to be regular soldiers, not only in the new Italian army, but in several others.

He also fought with the British forces in the Crimean War (1854–55), where he first met Charles Gordon.

In 1876, while serving for General Gordon, he explored the course of the upper Nile (Bahr El Jebel), discovering and mapping its derivation from Lake Albert. He then ventured in the territory of the Oromo tribe, later becoming governor of the Egyptian Bahr-el-Ghazal province, where he struggled against Sebehr and the slave trade and also started the deployment of natural gum. Gordon regarded him, perhaps unfairly, as a brilliant mercenary - perhaps he did not come up to Gordon's standards of Noncomformist rectitude.

In 1880, while returning to Khartoum, he found the Nile obstructed and was held up for three months, becoming ill. This illness led to his death, shortly after his return to Suez.

After his death, his son Felice published his father's memoirs in the book, "Sette anni nel Sudan egiziano" (Milano, 1891).