Karl Edvard Laman (born Karl Edvard Ersson) (1867–1944) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

active in Kingdom of Kongo during the period of 1891 through 1919. Laman and his wife collected a large group of ethnographic materials and this collection of more than 2,000 pieces is the most comprehensive of that brought back by the Swedish missionaries of his time.

Early years

Karl was born in

Smedjebacken Smedjebacken is a locality and the seat of Smedjebacken Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,100 inhabitants in 2010. Geographically, the town Smedjebacken is situated by the lake Barken, with an area of , which in turn belongs to the K ...

, Sweden in 1867. His father, Gustaf Ersson worked at a mill, and his mother, Christina Ulrika Wallin, was a maid at the

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

. While young, he worked as a gardener in Stockholm. Karl's studies were paid for by a sister of his grandmother, Sofia Eriksson, who married the restaurateur Carl Frederick Laman of

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

who had inherited a small fortune.Namnet Laman genom ingifte: Västerås domkyrkoförsamling AIA:20 Husförhör 1879–1892, Genline GID:2605.28.50100 During this time, Karl changed his surname to Laman. After graduating from a school in Västerås, Karl registered with the

Mission Covenant Church of Sweden The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska Missionskyrkan), founded in 1878, was a Swedish evangelical free church. It was the second-largest Protestant denomination in Sweden, after the national church, the Church of Sweden. In 2011, t ...

missionary school in

Kristinehamn Kristinehamn is a locality and the seat of Kristinehamn Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 17,839 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Kristinehamn is situated by the shores of lake Vänern where the small rivers ''Varnan'' and ''Löt' ...

in 1888. Two years later, in 1890, he was ordained a

Career

In 1891, Laman emigrated to the Congo on a mission tour and stayed until 1919 . During his time in Kongo, he combined his ministry with linguistic study which resulted in numerous books, dissertations, and an almost complete translation of the Bible to

Kikongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from th ...

, the original language of the region and today the main language in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. His most notable work was the Kikongo-

Français French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

dictionary of about 60,000 words completed during expeditions to minority groups in the region. He also published ''Grammar of the Kongo Language (Kikongo)'' in 1912. In order to study the local languages and social systems, Laman worked with young, local, Bakongo evangelists. In 1912, these evangelists assisted Laman with his survey questionnaires in Kikongo, developed to map out the languages and cultures of Kongo groups. While in the Congo, Laman collected everyday objects, insects, bird eggs and animal skins. ''Notes on some mammals collected in the Congo Free State by the Swedish missionary, K.E. Laman'', written by the Swedish

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Einar Lönnberg Axel Johann Einar Lönnberg (24 December 1865 – 21 November 1942) was a Swedish zoologist and conservationist. Lönnberg was born in Stockholm. He was head of the Vertebrate Department of the '' Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet'' (Swedish Natural H ...

, was published in 1908. Laman's collection of twelve human skulls are now with the Swedish Museum of Natural History while his collection of

Nkisi or (plural varies: , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to conta ...

is with the

Museum of Ethnography, Sweden The Museum of Ethnography ( sv, Etnografiska museet), in Stockholm, Sweden, is a Swedish science museum. It houses a collection of about 220,000 items relating to the ethnography, or cultural anthropology, of peoples from around the world, i ...

. Laman received the Linn Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and an honorary doctorate from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

Personal life

Laman and his wife, Selma (née Carlson; 1862–1936), are buried at Stjärnorp.

Partial works

* 1899
''Nkanda wabilekwa bianza uzayulwanga mpangulu ye nkadulu au: Kimfumu kiabibulu ye minti ye bititi ye matadi''
* 1905
''Nkand' a nzambi vo masonukwa manlongo mabundane nkanda mia luwawanu luankulu ye luampa''
* 1936, ''Dictionnaire kikongo-français, avec une étude phonétique décrivant les dialectes les plus importants de la langue dite Kikongo'' (translated: "Kikongo-French dictionary with phonetic study describing the major dialects of the language known as Kikongo.")

Early years

Career

Personal life

Partial works

References

Further reading