French Colonial Founder of the Congo Re-interred in Brazzaville

It seems almost counter intuitive that in modern-day Africa an icon of the colonial past could receive such honors - but on Tuesday in the Republic of the Congo, the remains of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza were re-interred with much pomp and ceremony in the city he founded in 1884, and which still carries his name today. (In neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, the cities named for its founding fathers, Stanleyville (Henry Morton Stanley) and Leopoldville (King Leopold II) were renamed Kisangani and Kinshasa respectively after independence, and monuments to the two Imperialists destroyed.)

Why has Pierre de Brazza, of all European explorers, been so honored? Partly it is his record on slavery, or rather his vehement opposition to slavery and the excesses of various colonial export companies (a report by De Brazza on such excesses was made shortly before his death and quietly buried by the French government) which has earned him this high regard. De Brazza used diplomacy and negotiation rather than force (although the implicit threat of force was usually presented as an alternative) during his travels in the region.

In 1880, during the 'scramble for Africa', he persuaded the King Makoko of the Batekes to put his lands under French protection - trouncing Henry Morton Stanley and the representatives of King Leopold II in gaining significant mineral-rich lands for his adopted country. (De Brazza was born an aristocrat in Italy but preferred France, and became a naturalized French citizen.)

It was also an opportunity for the descendants of both De Brazza and King Makoko to pay tribute and claim the limelight in this previously war-torn African state. Despite questions as to the expense by opposition party leaders, De Brazza, his wife and four children are now immortalized by a $2.3 million monument in Brazzaville.

Image, now in public domain, from Conférences et Lettres de P. Savorgnan de Brazza, Paris 1887.