Eugenio Ruspoli

Prince Eugenio Ruspoli (Țigănești, 6 January 1866 – near Burgi, Somalia, 4 December 1893) was an Italian explorer and naturalist. He was the author of the book Nel Paese della Mirra, published in 1892. Biography Ruspoli belonged to the noble Roman and Florentine Ruspoli family, which was related to the House of Bonaparte. He was the second son of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa, a politician, and his first wife, the Romanian princess Cocuța Conachi. He is remembered for two expeditions in Somalia. Prince Eugenio Ruspoli was inspired to explore Africa by meeting the Polish Count Frackenstein. His expeditions were financed by his father. He first explored Ethiopia and Somalia beginning in 1891. Traveling southwards from Berbera, he crossed the Ogaden to the Shebelle River. He brought important zoological, botanical, mineralogical and ethnographic materials back to Italy. These collections included 183 birds, including specimens of four newly discovered species. His second expedition took place from 1892 to 1893, when he passed through Bardera on 3 April 1892, in order to confirm a convention stipulating the Kingdom of Italy's protectorate over the region. He then descended the Jubba River as far as Dolo and explored the interior of the country, discovering Lake Chamo, which he named "Lake Umberto" in honor of King Umberto I of Italy. He also reached Lugh from the north. During his expeditions, Ruspoli and his indigenous companions massacred natives and robbed villages. Ruspoli died, unmarried and without heirs, in a hunting accident near Burgi, in Somalia. Along with Vittorio Bottego, he was attempting to travel up the Jubba River to Lake Rudolph. Ruspoli was killed from his destination on 4 December 1893. According to the account American explorer Arthur Donaldson Smith heard from one of the Amhara people, Ruspoli fired at an elephant which grasped him in its trunk, swung him about in the air and then trampled him to death. He was buried among the graves of Amhara chiefs. The lake he had discovered was later renamed Ruspoli by Bottego.