Paul Lomami-Tshibamba
Encyclopedia
Paul Lomami Tshibamba was a Congolese journalist and author.
from Congolese parents. The family returned in 1920 to Léopoldville
(present-day Kinshasa
) in the Belgian Congo
.
He studied at the Minor Seminary of Mbata-Kiela, in the Mayumbe in Bas-Congo
. Although the school was run by Belgian missionaries who encouraged their pupils to join the priesthood, he did not become a priest. Five years after leaving school he was struck by deafness, an illness from which he never fully recovered despite the good medical care that he received.
After various jobs including as a clerk with the "periodical for Christian natives," La Croix du Congo (The Cross of the Congo) published in Kinshasa and as a typist at the Direction of Aeronautics Works of Kalina, under the central government, he became a journalist with the Voix du Congolais (Voice of the Congolese). He published articles critical of Belgian colonization for which he is tortured and imprisoned by the colonial administration. He went into exile in Brazzaville from 1950 to 1959. There he became one of the main forces behind the magazine "Liaison".
At the same time he had success as a writer in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo. In 1948 he was awarded in Brussels
the first prize at the "Foire coloniale" (Colonial Fair) for his novella Ngando (Crocodile). The work, which in many ways marks the beginning of Congolese national literature in French, depicts traditional beliefs during the colonial period in a story set on the banks of the Congo River
. Its themes of alienation and cultural conflict are further developed in his subsequent works. Lomami-Tshibamba returned to Congo-Zaire after independence and held several government posts. In 1962 he started a newspaper, Le Progrès (Progress), later known as Salongo.
He published further stories and novellas.
Throughout his work, Lomami Tshibamba remained faithful to the imagination of the African tradition. Lomami Tshibamba is considered a significant pioneer of contemporary Congolese literature.
.
Biography
Paul Lomami Tshibamba was born on 17 July 1914 in BrazzavilleBrazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...
from Congolese parents. The family returned in 1920 to Léopoldville
Leopoldville
Leopoldville may refer to:* The capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, today known as Kinshasa* SS Leopoldville, a troopship sunk in 1944...
(present-day Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
) in the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
.
He studied at the Minor Seminary of Mbata-Kiela, in the Mayumbe in Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo is one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the only province with a coastline and it borders Bandundu province to the east and Kinshasa to the northeast...
. Although the school was run by Belgian missionaries who encouraged their pupils to join the priesthood, he did not become a priest. Five years after leaving school he was struck by deafness, an illness from which he never fully recovered despite the good medical care that he received.
After various jobs including as a clerk with the "periodical for Christian natives," La Croix du Congo (The Cross of the Congo) published in Kinshasa and as a typist at the Direction of Aeronautics Works of Kalina, under the central government, he became a journalist with the Voix du Congolais (Voice of the Congolese). He published articles critical of Belgian colonization for which he is tortured and imprisoned by the colonial administration. He went into exile in Brazzaville from 1950 to 1959. There he became one of the main forces behind the magazine "Liaison".
At the same time he had success as a writer in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo. In 1948 he was awarded in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
the first prize at the "Foire coloniale" (Colonial Fair) for his novella Ngando (Crocodile). The work, which in many ways marks the beginning of Congolese national literature in French, depicts traditional beliefs during the colonial period in a story set on the banks of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
. Its themes of alienation and cultural conflict are further developed in his subsequent works. Lomami-Tshibamba returned to Congo-Zaire after independence and held several government posts. In 1962 he started a newspaper, Le Progrès (Progress), later known as Salongo.
He published further stories and novellas.
Throughout his work, Lomami Tshibamba remained faithful to the imagination of the African tradition. Lomami Tshibamba is considered a significant pioneer of contemporary Congolese literature.
External links
- Lomami Tshibamba bio
- Lomami Tshibamba bio by Prof Alphonse Mbuyamba (in French)
- Lomami Tshibamba bio (in French)
.