Manuel III Afonso of Kongo, previously Manuel Martins Kiditu, was the last

Mwenekongo The Manikongo, or Mwene Kongo, was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, a kingdom that existed from the 14th to the 19th centuries and consisted of land in present-day Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Repu ...

(ruler) of the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

, ruling as a vassal of the Portuguese empire from 1911 to 1914. The royal family of Kongo chose Manuel Martins Kiditu as ruler in 1910, on the death of Pedro Mbemba, who had been Regent. Educated at Portuguese schools in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

and Huila, he was later described as "wise in the ways and customs of white men".Maria Emília Madeira Santos, ''A Africa e a instalação do sistema colonial (c.1885-c.1930): III Reunião Internacional de História de África'' (Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Centro de Estudos de História e Cartografia Antiga, 2000), p. 357 Manuel's reign over the reduced territory of the kingdom was ended by a revolt in 1914, at which point the Portuguese abolished the kingdom and assimilated the territory into the colony of

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

. By 1915, Manuel III also lost much of his claim to the throne, as the royal family recognized Álvaro XV Afonso Nzinga as ruler instead.

References

{{RulersOfKongoKingdom Manikongo of Kongo 19th-century births 1927 deaths