Lampo (dog)

Lampo (c. 1950 – July 22, 1961) was a mixed-breed dog that became famous for his rail journeys across Italy.[1]

Lampo

Dog Lampo.
Species	domestic dog
Breed	mongrel
Sex	Male
Born	circa 1950
Died	July 22, 1961 Campiglia Marittima, Italy
Resting place	Campiglia Marittima, Italy
Owner	Elvio Barlettani

History

Lampo on the locomotive.

In August 1953, Lampo, then a stray dog, got off a cargo train at the Campiglia Marittima railway station in Italy and was adopted by the stationmaster Elvio Barlettani, despite the strict rail regulations.[2] Soon the dog had learned the train schedules, distinguishing the slow trains from the fast ones and how to get somewhere every day and return at sunset.[3] Almost every morning he was traveling by train from Campiglia Marittima to Piombino to accompany Mirna, the stationmaster's daughter in her way to school and then was returning to the Campiglia.

After a few years, the management of the Florence railway forced Barlettani to remove the dog. Lampo was put on a cargo train to Naples, but he managed to return after a few days. Later Lampo was given to a friend of the stationmaster in Barletta, however after about five months, the dog managed to return to Campiglia Marittima, where he officially had become the mascot of the railway station. His story intrigued journalists around the world, who dedicated television services, articles and covers to his story.[4]

On the evening of July 22, 1961 in Campiglia Marittima, a maneuvering cargo train hit the dog, who was then buried in the flowerbed at the foot of an acacia tree at the railway station.

Commemoration

Monument of Lampo at the Campiglia Marittima railway station.

Shortly after his death, thanks to railway workers and the American magazine This Week, a monument was inaugurated at the Campiglia Marittima railway station in memory of Lampo.

In 1962 the book Lampo, the Traveling Dog (Italian: Lampo, il cane viaggiatore) was written by the stationmaster, Elvio Barlettani (died July 2006). The Garzanti publishing house published the book. It became successful with about fifteen editions until 2009 and has been translated into English, French,[5] German[6] and Japanese.[7]

In 1967 story of Lampo was fictionalized by the Polish writer Roman Pisarski in the short story O psie, który jeździł koleją that has become school reading in the third grade classes of primary schools in Poland.[8]

References

1. Prieur, Jean (1990). Gli animali hanno un'anima (in Italian). Edizioni Mediterranee. ISBN 9788827208281.
2. "Lampo cane viaggiatore". www.clamfer.it. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
3. "Lampo the Traveling Dog Rode the Rail to Fame". The Milwaukee Journal. 1968-10-16.
4. "Famous Dogs: Lampo, the travelling dog". Look and learn. 1967-04-22.
5. "Lampo, chien voyageur".
6. Daniel Hörnemann (2015). "Lampo – der Eisenbahn(er)hund" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. "Morto Elvio Barlettani, padre di Lampo - Il Tirreno". Archivio - Il Tirreno (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-08-28.
8. Vp (2014-04-20). "Livorno Daily Photo: Lampo, the traveling dog". Livorno Daily Photo. Retrieved 2019-08-28.

Bibliography

• Lampo, the Traveling Dog by Elvio Barlettani, Garzanti, 1962.
• O psie, który jeździł koleją by Roman Pisarski, Biuro Wydawnicze "Ruch", 1967.

Filmography

• Lampo, cane viaggiatore, 1962.
• Il cane viaggiatore by Simone Paradisi, 2011