Herzekiah Andrew Shanu (1858 – July 1905) was an African

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

notably recognized for his involvement in the campaign against inhumane abuses in the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

Early years

He was a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

man, originally from

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

in what is now

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He initially became a school teacher. He was educated at the Church Missionary Society Grammar School, and later in the Training Institute for Teachers, at the end of which he graduated as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. For a few years, he taught at a Lagos

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. However, in 1884, he entered the colonial service of the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

as a clerk, rising to the rank of district sub-commissioner and a French-English translator in the office of the governor-general in Boma. Establishing himself at Boma, then the capital, he opened a general store and

photographic studio A photographic studio is often a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs. Since the early years of the 20th ce ...

. In 1894, he traveled to

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

to attend the Exposition Internationale d'Anvers. Some of his

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

s were published in ''

Le Congo illustré ''Le Congo illustré'' ( French; "The Congo Illustrated") was a fortnightly illustrated periodical, published in Brussels by Alphonse-Jules Wauters from December 1891 to December 1895. The magazine was dedicated to Belgian exploration and economi ...

''. In 1900 he demonstrated his loyalty to the Congo Free State by supporting the authorities during a mutiny by the

Force Publique The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; nl, Openbare Weermacht) was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of ...

Hochschild, Adam Adam Hochschild (; born October 5, 1942) is an American author, journalist, historian and lecturer. His best-known works include ''King Leopold's Ghost'' (1998), '' To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914–1918'' (2011), ''Bur ...

: ''

King Leopold's Ghost ''King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa'' (1998) is a best-selling popular history book by Adam Hochschild that explores the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 ...

'', Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

Education

Herzekiah Andrew Shanu was educated at the Church Missionary Society Grammar School, and later in the Training Institute for Teachers, at the end of which he graduated as a teacher. For a few years, he taught at a Lagos Primary School. However, in 1884, he entered the colonial service of the Congo Free State as a clerk.

Activism

In 1903 Shanu supplied

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

with information concerning the abuse of West African workers in the Congo, who in turn referred him to E. D. Morel. Morel and Shanu exchanged messages for several years; Shanu forwarding, among other things, trial transcripts of trials against low-ranking

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

officials which proved to be very revealing. While trying to acquire information from the police chief of Boma, Shanu was found out and as a consequence beleaguered by state officials. After it was discovered that Shanu had provided the Congo Reform Association with evidence of atrocities in Congo, government employees were ordered to

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

his businesses. He suffered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and committed suicide in July 1905.

References

*Christraud M. Geary, ''In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885–1960.'' London: Philip Wilson for Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, pp. 104–106. *"Kinshasa Photographers, 1870 to 2000", ''

Revue Noire Revue Noire is a specialist publisher of books and web material relating to African contemporary art and culture, based in France. From 1991 to 2001, Editions Revue Noire published the printed quarterly magazine ''Revue Noire''. Since 2001 it has ...

'', 2001. .

External links

Information about Shanu
from the National Museum of African Art. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanu, Hezekiah Andrew 1858 births 1905 suicides 19th-century Nigerian educators 19th-century photographers 19th-century translators CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni Congo Free State officials Educators from Lagos French–English translators Nigerian expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Nigerian human rights activists Nigerian photographers Nigerian schoolteachers People from colonial Nigeria Portrait photographers Suicides in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Yoruba activists Yoruba businesspeople Yoruba educators Yoruba photographers