Ignatius Knoblecher ( sl, Ignacij Knoblehar or ''Knobleher''; 6 July 1819 – 13 April 1858), also known by his

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

nickname Abuna Soliman (meaning "Our Father

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

"), was a Slovene

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

missionary in Eastern North Africa. He was one of the first explorers of 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. ...

basin.

Life

Knoblecher was born in the small village of Škocjan in

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the no ...

. He studied at the secondary school in Rudolfswerth (now Novo Mesto), at the lyceum and the theological seminary in Laibach (now

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

), and at the College of Propaganda in Rome. On 9 March 1845 he was ordained a priest, and a year later graduated as a doctor of theology. When the Vicariate Apostolic of Sudan was established on 3 April 1846, the Congregation of Propaganda selected Knoblecher as one of the missionaries for the region. Before leaving for central Africa he spent eight months in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and at other places in Syria to acquaint himself with the rites and customs of the Oriental Christians. Towards the end of September, 1847, he left Cairo in company of Maximilian Ryllo, S.J., the Pro-Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa, and four other missionaries, and arrived at

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 ...

on 11 February 1848. Here they established a school for young Africans whom they had purchased in the slave-market and who subsequently assisted them on their missions. Through them Knoblecher became acquainted with languages spoken in the interior of Africa, and was soon enabled to compile a sort of dictionary of these languages. When Father Ryllo died on 17 June 1848, Knoblecher succeeded him as pro-vicar apostolic. From Khartoum Knoblecher made an expedition into the interior of Africa in the fall of 1849. He ascended the

(''Bahr-el-Abiad'') and was the first European to penetrate into the land of the

Bari people The Bari are a tribe of Karo, Nilotic people inhabiting South Sudan. The Bari speak the Bari language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Nilotic family. Overview The Bari of the Nile are sedentary agro-pastoralist. They exploit the s ...

, as far as 4° 10′ N. In 1850 he went back to Austria to recruit missionaries and collect money for the African missions. He returned to Africa in 1852 with five new missionaries, established a mission among the Bari tribe at

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 ...

, and in 1854 another among the

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotes, Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, South Sudan, Renk, in the region of Bahr el Gh ...

or Jangeh people at Angweyn (Heiligenkreuz). The missionaries were hampered by European merchants and

slave-traders Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Bad health cut short the lives of many of them, and Knoblecher himself died in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

while making a journey to Europe to convalesce. Accounts of his travels in Eastern North Africa were published in ''Jahresberichte des Marienvereins'' (Vienna, 1852–58). His extensive ethnographical and ornithological collections are preserved in museums in Vienna and Ljubljana, and the studies that he prepared on the

and

Bari language Bari is the Nilotic language of the Karo people, spoken over large areas of Central Equatoria state in South Sudan, across the northwest corner of Uganda, and into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bari is spoken by several distinct tribes: t ...

s are in the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...

. Knoblecher was baptized ''Ignatius Knoblecher'' in 1819. The spelling of his surname as ''Knobleher'' appears in Slovene publications by 1846, and ''Knoblehar'' by 1849.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: *Mitterrutzner, ''Dr. Ignaz Knoblecher, apostolischer Provicar der Kath. Miss. In Central-Africa'' (Brixen, 1869). * Peter Rohrbacher
Logwit-lo-Ladú (1848–1866): Seine Bedeutung als afrikanische Gewährsperson in der Frühphase der österreichischen Afrikanistik
in: Michel Espagne; Pascale Rabault, David Simo (Hg.), Afrikanische Deutschland-Studien und deutsche Afrikanistik – ein Spiegelbild. Würzburg 2014, 49–72. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knoblecher, Ignatius 1819 births 1858 deaths Slovenian Roman Catholic missionaries Slovenian theologians 19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests Explorers of Africa Slovenian explorers People from the Municipality of Škocjan Roman Catholic missionaries in Sudan