Belgian Congo (dark green ) depicted with Belgian Ruanda-Urundi (light green ), 1935.
This is a list of European colonial administrators responsible for the territory of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo ).
International Association of the Congo
Prior to the creation of the Congo Free State, the International Association of the Congo (IAC) had signed treaties with over 300 native Congolese chiefs and in effect exercised sovereignty over a large area of the Congo Basin . The IAC was headquartered in Belgium and run by a committee under the presidency of Maximilien Strauch . Prior to the creation of the office of Administrator-General, authority on the ground in the Congo had been exercised by a Chief of Expedition, who until April 1884 was Henry Morton Stanley .
Portrait
Name(Birth–Death)
Position
Term of office
Notes
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Francis de Winton (1835–1901)
Administrator-General
22 April 1884
1 July 1885
1 year, 70 days
Congo Free State
Administrators-General / Governors-General
Portrait
Name(Birth–Death)
Position
Term of office
Notes
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Francis de Winton (1835–1901)
Administrator-General
1 July 1885
April 1886
9 months
Camille Janssen (1837–1926)
April 1886
17 April 1887
6 years, 3 months
Governor-General
17 April 1887
1 July 1892
Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)
1 July 1892
15 November 1908
16 years, 137 days
Vice Governors-General
Portrait
Name(Birth–Death)
Position
Term of office
Notes
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Camille Janssen (1837–1926)
Vice Administrator-General
25 September 1885
April 1886
6 months
Herman Ledeganck (1841–1908)
Vice Governor-General
31 January 1888
January 1889
11 months
Henri Gondry (1845–1889)
Acting Vice Governor-General
January 1889
18 May 1889
4 months
Camille Coquilhat (1853–1891)
Vice Governor-General
1890
24 March 1891
0–1 years
Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)
15 April 1891
1 July 1892
1 year, 77 days
Francis Dhanis (1861–1909)
4 September 1896
1897
0–1 years
Émile Wangermée (1855–1924)
11 April 1897
1 December 1897
234 days
Alphonse van Gèle (1848–1939)
1 December 1897
10 January 1899
1 year, 40 days
Paul Costermans (1860–1905)
January 1904
March 1905
1 year, 2 months
Félix Fuchs (1858–1928)
Governor-General ad interim
25 December 1902
4 March 1904
1 year, 70 days
Vice Governor-General
1907
1908
0–1 years
Albert Lantonnois van Rode (1852–1934)
May 1905
1906/7
1–2 years
Belgian Congo
Portrait
Name(Birth–Death)
Position
Term of office
Notes
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)
Governor-General
15 November 1908
20 May 1912
3 years, 187 days
Félix Fuchs (1858–1928)
20 May 1912
5 January 1916
3 years, 230 days
Eugène Henry (1862–1930)
5 January 1916
30 January 1921
5 years, 25 days
Maurice Lippens (1875–1956)
30 January 1921
24 January 1923
1 year, 359 days
Martin Rutten (1876–1944)
24 January 1923
27 December 1927
4 years, 337 days
Auguste Tilkens (1869–1949)
27 December 1927
14 September 1934
6 years, 261 days
Pierre Ryckmans (1891–1959)
14 September 1934
31 December 1946
12 years, 108 days
Eugène Jungers (1888–1958)
31 December 1946
1 January 1952
5 years, 1 day
Léo Pétillon (1903–1996)
1 January 1952
12 July 1958
6 years, 192 days
Hendrik Cornelis (1910–1999)
12 July 1958
30 June 1960
1 year, 354 days
On 1 July 1960, the Belgian Congo became independent as the Republic of the Congo (République du Congo ).
See also
Notes
References
Boulger, Demetrius Charles (1898). The Congo State: Or, The Growth of Civilisation in Central Africa . London: W. Thacker & Co.
Gann, Lewis H.; Duignan, Peter (1979). The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884–1914 . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Henige, David P. (1970). Colonial Governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present: A Comprehensive List . Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Janssens, Édouard; Cateaux, Albert (1908). Les Belges au Congo: notices biographiques . Antwerp: J. van Hille-De Backer.
External links
Congo Free State (1885–1908) Belgian Congo (1908–1960)