Jean Cuvelier
Encyclopedia
Jean Cuvelier was a Belgian Redemptorist missionary and bishop of Matadi in Belgian Congo
from the late 19th century until his death in 1962. Cuvelier was notable for his interest in the history of the Kingdom of Kongo
, which he saw as a route to evangelization in his time. By stressing the Christian nature of the old kingdom, he hoped to increase the attachment of Kongo parishioners to the Catholic Church as opposed to Protestantism or traditional religions.
Cuvelier started the Kikongo language missionary newspaper Kukiele in 1928 with a mixture of missionary news, cultural articles and especially historical accounts of the old kingdom. In his articles, which initially bore the title "Lusansu" Cuvelier began writing a history of Kongo using oral traditions that he collected combined with increasingly detailed historical documentation. His inspiration appears to have come initially from reading a manuscript of one of the catechists of the mission, Mpetelo Boka, written in 1912, for Cuvelier's manuscript, "Kongo een vroeger eeuw" (Kongo in earlier centuries) written in 1926 already incorporates much of Boka's writing as well as citations from well-known 17th-century writers such as Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo.
In 1928–29, Cuvelier took advantage of his position as inspector of schools to visit mission schools all over Congo, and gathered traditions, which he collected in small school notebooks. Typically he called this notebooks "Mvila" from the Kikongo term for a clan or its heraldic motto, the common stuff of Kongo oral tradition. All of this material went into his Kukiele articles, and then into his first French language summary of Kongo history and tradition, "Traditions Congolaises" published in 1930.
In 1934 Cuvelier published the first edition of Nkutama a mvila za makanda
which was a catalogue of clan mottos and histories that he had collected, including information on some 500 clans. At the same time he continue further historical work in European archives, especially in Rome.
His biography of King Afonso I entitled L'ancien Congo was published in Dutch/Flemish in 1944 as Het Oud Konigrijk Kongo, and in French 1946 and became a standard interpretation of Kongo history, especially the ethnographic and political appendices and notes that described many aspects of the old kingdoms political and economic structure. Cuvelier continued his publication of source material with a French translation of the writing of Lorenzo da Lucca in 1953, translations of crucial early documents from Roman archives in 1954 (in collaboration with Louis Jadin a canon with the Belgian Institute historique Belge de Rome, and partial translations of the works of Marcellino d'Atri, Luca da Caltanisetta and Girolamo da Montesarchio
in the scientific-historical journal Ngonge Kongo in the 1960s. He also contributed many short biographies of Kongo kings and other personages to the colonial reference work Biographie Coloniale Belge in 1955.
Upon his death in 1962, Cuvelier's papers including many unpublished manuscripts, book and article drafts, transcriptions and translations of documentation relevant to Kongo history, and his precious field notebooks went to the Redemptorist archive in Leuven, Belgium, and in 2000 were transferred to the Archives of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
.
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...
from the late 19th century until his death in 1962. Cuvelier was notable for his interest in the history of the Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, which he saw as a route to evangelization in his time. By stressing the Christian nature of the old kingdom, he hoped to increase the attachment of Kongo parishioners to the Catholic Church as opposed to Protestantism or traditional religions.
Cuvelier started the Kikongo language missionary newspaper Kukiele in 1928 with a mixture of missionary news, cultural articles and especially historical accounts of the old kingdom. In his articles, which initially bore the title "Lusansu" Cuvelier began writing a history of Kongo using oral traditions that he collected combined with increasingly detailed historical documentation. His inspiration appears to have come initially from reading a manuscript of one of the catechists of the mission, Mpetelo Boka, written in 1912, for Cuvelier's manuscript, "Kongo een vroeger eeuw" (Kongo in earlier centuries) written in 1926 already incorporates much of Boka's writing as well as citations from well-known 17th-century writers such as Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo.
In 1928–29, Cuvelier took advantage of his position as inspector of schools to visit mission schools all over Congo, and gathered traditions, which he collected in small school notebooks. Typically he called this notebooks "Mvila" from the Kikongo term for a clan or its heraldic motto, the common stuff of Kongo oral tradition. All of this material went into his Kukiele articles, and then into his first French language summary of Kongo history and tradition, "Traditions Congolaises" published in 1930.
In 1934 Cuvelier published the first edition of Nkutama a mvila za makanda
Nkutama a mvila za makanda
Nkutama a mvila za makanda is a "Catalogue of Praise Names of Clans" in the Kikongo language compiled and edited by Father Jean Cuvelier comprising a list of about 500 Kongo clans in alphabetical order. The list was compiled by Cuvelier between 1926 and 1934 when he was inspector of schools for...
which was a catalogue of clan mottos and histories that he had collected, including information on some 500 clans. At the same time he continue further historical work in European archives, especially in Rome.
His biography of King Afonso I entitled L'ancien Congo was published in Dutch/Flemish in 1944 as Het Oud Konigrijk Kongo, and in French 1946 and became a standard interpretation of Kongo history, especially the ethnographic and political appendices and notes that described many aspects of the old kingdoms political and economic structure. Cuvelier continued his publication of source material with a French translation of the writing of Lorenzo da Lucca in 1953, translations of crucial early documents from Roman archives in 1954 (in collaboration with Louis Jadin a canon with the Belgian Institute historique Belge de Rome, and partial translations of the works of Marcellino d'Atri, Luca da Caltanisetta and Girolamo da Montesarchio
Girolamo da Montesarchio
The Italian Capuchin Girolamo da Montesarchio spent twenty years in the mid-17th century in the Kingdom of Kongo in West Africa. His manuscript account, Viaggio al Congho, provides modern historians a rich source of information on the region's history and society...
in the scientific-historical journal Ngonge Kongo in the 1960s. He also contributed many short biographies of Kongo kings and other personages to the colonial reference work Biographie Coloniale Belge in 1955.
Upon his death in 1962, Cuvelier's papers including many unpublished manuscripts, book and article drafts, transcriptions and translations of documentation relevant to Kongo history, and his precious field notebooks went to the Redemptorist archive in Leuven, Belgium, and in 2000 were transferred to the Archives of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
.