In February 2005, presidents of Congo, Gabon and France gathered in Brazzaville to lay the foundation stone for a memorial to Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (1852-1905). In 2006, Brazza's remains were exhumed from Algiers along with those of his wife and four children, and were reinterred in the new mausoleum of Italian marble. He was considered at that time the liberator of the slaves, and an apostle of peace and civilization.
Italian as origin but naturalized as a Frenchman,.Brazza opened up for France entry along the right bank of the Congo that eventually led to French colonies in Central Africa. He founded on 10 September 1880, on the site of a Bateke village named Nkuna, a city named after him (Brazzaville), name retained by the post-colonial rulers. In 1886 he was named governor-general of the French Congo, which comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic.
He was dismissed in 1897 due to poor profitability of the colony and journalist reports of conditions for the natives that some would say were "too good." By 1905, stories were reaching Paris of injustice, forced labour and brutality by the Congo's new governor, Emile Gentil. Brazza was sent to investigate and the resulting report was revealing and damning. When his deputy Félicien Challaye placed the embarrassing report in front of the National Assembly, it was suppressed and those oppressive conditions remained in the French Congo for decades.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of a series of Ornamental Plants, issued on 1996.
References
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - A website dedicated to him
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza - Wikipedia
Sender:
Sent from Brazzaville (Congo-Brayyaville), on 10.03.2014
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