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Bermuda

Wayfaring surfer-boardmaker-photojournalist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; among the best-traveled figures in the sport's history.

Rosemberg was born (1946) in Rio, the son of a journalist father, and grew up in comfort just off the beach at Copacabana. He began surfing at 16, at nearby Arpoador Beach, on a thin plywood "madeirite" board, kicking into waves with the help of swim fins before standing up, fins and all.

A year later, Rosemberg began taking photos of Rio's still-embryonic surf scene, and his images offer a unique window into a homegrown culture that would in generations to come develop into a surf-world superpower. Some of Rosemberg's early photos were used in a 1967 SURFER Magazine article titled "Rio: City of Love and Surf!" which introduced Brazil as a surfing nation to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, following in the steps of his father, in 1964 Rosemberg, 17, got a job as a reporter and photographer for 

 magazine. He covered Brazil's military coup that year. "For several days," Rosenberg later wrote, "I covered the events that turned Rio into a war zone."

Rosemberg's international adventuring began in 1968, not long after military dictatorship initiated what would soon be called the Years of Lead crackdown on dissidents, the press, and artists. He moved to London and got a job washing dishes, bought a used Austin Mini, and eventually set off for the French surfing capital of Biarritz, which in years to come became a second home; in 1969, Rosemberg and Miki Dora shared a room and took turns photographing each other surfing the reef waves of Guethary.

After flying to San Diego, California, in 1970, Rosemberg began making surfboards, learning the craft from scratch at Surfboards Hawaii in Encinitas, then moving on to Gordon and Smith in San Diego proper. Back in Rio, in 1971, Rosemberg launched Tito Surfboards, a one-man operation that over the next three years produced Brazil's highest-quality domestically-made boards.

In 1974, when the urge to travel outweighed his interest in making boards, Rosemberg sold his boardmaking operation, flew to London to pick up a new custom-made Land Rover, and spent the next four years camping and surfing in Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and France, among other nations. In Liberia, the perpetually cheerful Rosemberg was arrested for being an Israeli spy (he wasn't) and expelled; throughout this period, he earned money by writing travel articles for the Brazilian press.

While in Morocco, in 1974, Rosemberg met Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson, two California surfers who were also dedicated—if far less well-prepared—surf travelers. Naughton and Peterson were doing travelogue pieces for SURFER magazine, and Rosemberg was introduced to the surf world at large in 1975's "Beneath the African Sun" article:

"Brazil! I've come over here from Brazil to travel all around Africa and ride some tubes! My name is Tito."

"Brazil! Alright! You're the first Brazilian surfer we've ever met! We're from California."

"That's okay, I won't hold it against you."

Rosemberg continued to travel and surf in decades to come (as of 2023 he has visited 106 nations) while adding to a resume that, apart from regular work as writer and photographer, includes deckhand, waiter, carpenter, tractor operator, and bar owner. In 1985, Rosemberg and friend Carlos Probst won the Team Spirit Award in the Camel Trophy, an extreme off-road event held that year in Borneo.

 Rosemberg's book about surfing Brazil in the early 1960s, was published in 2012.

Rosemberg, Tito

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

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The Sunday Joint

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint