“The sea, an infinite source of inspiration, offers us an eternal voyage into the unknown, a mystery to be explored, a symphony of captivating colors and movements.”
Anita CONTI
Who is Anita Conti?
A pioneer of oceanography, an explorer of the seas and a talented photographer, Anita Conti has devoted her life to understanding, documenting and protecting the marine world. Her attachment to Brittany, a land that faces the Atlantic, was as deep and enduring as her passion for the oceans.
Born in Ermont, near Paris, in 1899, Anita Conti turned to the sea at an early age. Initially a writer and photographer, in the 1930s she became France’s first female oceanographer. She embarked on fishing vessels to observe, study and denounce the industrial practices that were already threatening marine resources.
She anchors much of her work in Brittany, first in Lorient and then in Douarnenez. She followed the sailors aboard the tuna boats and terre-neuviers, sharing their harsh daily lives and documenting, in powerful stories, the lives of the men and the state of the seas. Her book Racleurs d’océans is a unique account of post-war fishing in Brittany.
Brittany wasn’t just a research ground for her: she settled there permanently, finding a balance between solitude, observation and transmission. She even set up an experimental center to improve fish preservation conditions, with a view to sustainability.
Today, Anita Conti is honored in Brittany as a major figure of the sea: schools, quays and exhibitions bear her name. She embodies that rare alliance between science, poetry and commitment – and remains, for Brittany, a guiding light of the deep.