Andrea Debono (7 November 1821 – 29 October 1871), also known as Latif Effendi, was a Maltese trader and explorer who was one of the first Europeans to explore the area around the

White Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

in the mid-19th century.

Biography

Debono was born on 7 November 1821 in

Senglea Senglea ( mt, L-Isla ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittorios ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He was the son of Michael Debono, a captain of the merchant navy, and his wife Teresa née Carabott. He had a twin sister named Battistina. During his youth, Debono studied medicine and chemistry. The Debono family later emigrated to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and Andrea Debono worked in a hospital. Andrea and Battistina moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

after their parents died, and later to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

in the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in 1848, where Andrea built a corn mill and was involved in the production of building materials. Debono married Victoria, an Abyssinian, and they had three children but two of them died in infancy. In 1851, Debono began to serve the Egyptian Governor of Sudan and adopted the name of Latif Effendi. He made significant profits from the

ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, ...

, and he employed around 400 men as porters or boatmen. At this point he also began exploring the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

, and he was the first European to explore the

Sobat River The Sobat River is a river of the Greater Upper Nile region in northeastern South Sudan, Africa. It is the most southerly of the great eastern tributaries of the White Nile, before the confluence with the Blue Nile. Geography The Sobat River is ...

tributary of the

, reaching the cataracts beyond

Gondokoro Gondokoro island is located in Central Equatoria. The island was a trading-station on the east bank of the White Nile in Southern Sudan, south of Khartoum. Its importance lay in the fact that it was within a few kilometres of the limit of naviga ...

. He reached the Djiamoudj rapids in April 1853, acquiring knowledge of Lake Albert and the

Semliki River Semliki River is a major river, long, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda in Central and East Africa. It flows north from Lake Edward in Beni Territory, Nord-Kivu, D.R.C avoiding the Rwenzori Mountains on its Right (East), emp ...

. He made a journey to the mouth of the Sobat in 1854–1855 together with his wife, his son and later his agent Philippe Terranuova. At one point, their boats were grounded for six months due to the dry season and they were threatened by hostile natives. Between 1855 and 1856, Debono was the British Consular Agent in Khartoum. In 1859 he explored Gondokoro once again, publishing a book about his travels three years later. He was accompanied by the Italian explorer

Giovanni Miani Giovanni Miani (Rovigo 17 March 1810 – Tangasi 21 November 1872) was an Italian explorer. He is known for his explorations of the Nile, where he came close to being the first European to reach its source in Lake Victoria, and for his exploratio ...

Samuel Baker Sir Samuel White Baker, Order of the Bath, KCB, Royal Society, FRS, Royal Geographical Society, FRGS (8 June 1821 – 30 December 1893) was an English List of explorers, explorer, Officer (armed forces), officer, naturalist, big game hunter, ...

wrote, "de Bono's people are the worst of the lot, having utterly destroyed the country." In Khartoum, Consul

John Petherick John Petherick (1813 – 15 July 1882), was a Welsh traveller, trader and consul in East Central Africa. Life He was born in Glamorganshire, and adopted the profession of mining engineer. In 1845 he entered the service of Mehemet Ali, and was em ...

accused Debono and his nephew of involvement in slave trading, and although all charges were later dropped, Debono's reputation was ruined. His health declined after he lost his nephew, and he subsequently sold his property and moved back to Cairo. Debono died there on 29 October 1871 at the age of 49.

Legacy

Andrea Debono was mentioned in the 1863 novel ''

Five Weeks in a Balloon ''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' (french: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his ...

'' by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

. A street in his hometown Senglea is named after him.

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading