Hendrik "Rik" Cornelis (1910–1999) was a Belgian colonial

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who served as the final

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

from 1958 to 1960. His term ended with the independence of the Republic of the Congo. Cornelis was born in Bevere, near

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, ...

, in the Belgian province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

on 18 September 1910. He gained a doctorate in economic science from the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...

, also spending a year at the Geneva School for International Studies. He joined the Belgian colonial administration in

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

in 1934 and later served in various roles in the Congo. He was promoted to vice-governor-general of the Belgian Congo in 1953. He became the governor-general on 12 July 1958, being the first Dutch-speaking appointee to the role. After the independence of the Belgian Congo in 1960, Cornelis served as an advisor to

Justin Bomboko Justin-Marie Bomboko Lokumba Is Elenge (22 September 1928 – 10 April 2014), was a Congolese politician and statesman. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Congo. He served as leader of the Congolese government as chairman of the Coll ...

during his presidency of the College of Commissioners established by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.

References

;Sources *

External links

Cornelis, Rik
in NEVB Online

Archive Henri Cornelis
Royal museum for central Africa 1910 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Belgian civil servants Governors-General of the Belgian Congo People from Oudenaarde Ghent University alumni Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations alumni {{Belgium-bio-stub

References

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External links