Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza: Difference between revisions
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===Exploration in Africa=== |
===Exploration in Africa=== |
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dumb cracka honky |
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His next ship was the [[French ship Venus|''Venus'']], which stopped at [[Gabon]] regularly, and in [[1874]], de Brazza made two trips, up the [[Gabon River]] and [[Ogoue River]]. He then proposed to the government that he explore the [[Ogoue River|Ogoue]] to its source, and with the help of friends in high places, including [[Jules Ferry]] and [[Leon Gambetta]], he secured partial funding, the rest coming out of his own pocket. He also became a naturalized French citizen at this time, adopting the French spelling of his name. |
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In this expedition, which lasted from [[1875]]-[[1878]], armed with cotton textiles and tools to use for barter, accompanied by Noel Ballay, a doctor, Alfred Marche, a naturalist, a sailor, thirteen [[Senegal]]ese [[laptot]]s and four local interpreters, Brazza charmed and talked his way deep inland. |
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The French authorized a second mission, [[1879]]-[[1882]]. Reaching the Congo River in [[1880]], Brazza proposed to King [[Illoh Makoko|Makoko]] of the [[Bateke]]s that he place his kingdom under the protection of the [[Flag of France|French flag]]. Makoko, interested in trade possibilities and in gaining an edge over his rivals, signed a treaty. Makoko also arranged for the establishment of a French settlement at Mfoa on the Congo's [[Malebo Pool]], a place later known as [[Brazzaville]]; after Brazza's departure, the outpost was manned by two laptots under the command of Senegalese Sergeant [[Malamine Camara]], whose resourcefulness had impressed Brazza during their several months trekking inland from the coast. |
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In [[1886]], Brazza was named governor-general of the [[French Congo]]. Journalists' reports of the contrast between the decent wages and humane conditions there contrasted with the personal regime of [[Léopold II of Belgium|Belgian King Léopold]] on the opposite bank, in the [[Congo Free State]], made him some important enemies, and a mounting smear campaign in the French press led to his dismissal in [[1898]]. By [[1905]], he was asked to look into the colonial conditions, which had deteriorated during his absence, but the [[French National Assembly|National Assembly]] voted to suppress his embarrassing report, a copy of which was found amongst his personal effects after his death. He died suddenly of a fever at [[Dakar]]. There were rumors that he had been poisoned. |
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The epitaph for his burial site in [[Algiers]] reads, ''"une mémoire pure de sang humain"'' ("a memory untainted by human blood"). |
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A mausoleum has been built in his honour in [[Brazzaville]]. On [[30 September]] [[2006]], his remains were exhumed in Algiers<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5395194.stm Africa explorer's remains exhumed], [[BBC News]], [[30 September]] [[2006]].</ref> to be reinterred in Brazzaville on [[3 October]], along with those of his wife and four children.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/congo/story/0,,1886784,00.html African nation builds £1.4m marble mausoleum for colonial master], [[The Guardian]], [[4 October]] 2006</ref> |
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=== Mausoleum Controversy=== |
=== Mausoleum Controversy=== |
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Revision as of 20:16, 7 July 2008
Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, best known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza (January 26, 1852 - September 14, 1905) was a Franco-Italian explorer, born in Italy and later naturalized French. With the backing of the Société de Géographique de Paris, he opened up for France entry along the right bank of the Congo that eventually led to French colonies in Central Africa. His easy manner and great physical charm, as well as his pacific approach among Africans, were his trademarks. Under French colonial rule, Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo was named in his honor.
Early Years
[[Image:Brazza2.jpg|thumb|260px|right| Drawing of de Brazza ([[23 peackerwood
Exploration in Africa
dumb cracka honky
Mausoleum Controversy
The decision to honor Pierre de Brazza as a founding father of the Republic of the Congo has elicited protests among many Congolese. Mwinda Press, the journal of the Association of Congolese Democrats in France wrote articles quoting Théophile Obenga who depicted Pierre de Brazza as a colonizer and not a humanist, declaring him to have raped a Congolese woman, a princess and the equivalent of a Vestal Virgin, and to have pillaged villages, raising highly charged questions as to why the colonizer should be revered as a national hero instead of the Congolese who fought against colonization. Obenga has offered many evidence for his claims.
References
- Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006) ISBN 9781-4259-11980
- Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa (1991)
- Richard West, Brazza of the Congo (1972)
- Théophile Obenga - The rape by De Brazza, http://www.mwinda.org/article/obenga.html
- The Mausoleum of Shame - http://www.mwinda.org/article/honte.html
- De Brazza - A Congolese Point of View, http://www.mwinda.org/article/honte1.html
- Emanuela Ortis - "Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza: heròs du Friul" (2003) Radici n.9