Raphaël Marie Joseph de la Kethulle de Ryhove (

Sint-Michiels Sint-Michiels () is a sub-municipality of the city of Bruges located in the province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1971. On 1 January 1971, it was merged into Bruges. The amusement park Boudewi ...

, 15 September 1890 -

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre ( French, ) or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambe ...

, 25 June 1956), nicknamed ''Tata Raphaël'' (Father Raphaël) or ''Sango Raphaël'' (Priest Raphaël), was a Belgian Scheut missionary priest in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

Life

Raphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove's family originates from

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, where a lot of the family members were civil servants in late Medieval times. The family rose to the rank of nobility in the fifteenth century. Raphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove was one of fourteen children of Henri de la Kethulle de Ryhove (1854-1929) and Victorine Coppieters (1861-1934). He went to school at

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...

Institute and Saint Louis College in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He had thirty classmates, including future fellow missionary Edward Leys. He became a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

in the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, known as the Scheut Missionaries, in 1908, and was ordained a priest in July 1914. Meanwhile, he was mobilised in the army and from the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

until the end of 1916 he was a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

and stretcher-bearer in the

Belgian Army The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...

. He left for the

in December 1916 and was assigned to the Scheut fathers in

Léopoldville Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-growing megacities, with an estimated population of 17 million ...

, where he would stay over forty years. At that time, the city only had approximately 5000 inhabitants. His first initiative was the foundation of a school. A few years later, he also founded a vocational school. He also founded a secondary school in 1933 with the aim of educating the future civil servants and leaders. In 1955, he founded another school, for the training of sports instructors. In 1922, he organised the first Congolese

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

group. Furthermore, he was concerned with physical education. In 1919, he created the ''Association Sportive Congolaise''. The first competitions were organised in 1933. An open-air swimming pool was constructed to hold swimming competitions. De la Kethulle commissioned a lot of buildings as well. In 1931 he built a first stadium, which was quickly deemed too small and was demolished in 1936 to make room for the consedrably larger ''Stade Reine Astrid''. Next to the stadium, he constructed a ballroom which could be used for theater plays and film screenings. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he added a sports park with football fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, among other facilities. In 1948, the construction of a new stadium began, suited for international sports events. This '' Stade Roi Baudouin'' was opened in 1952. Furthermore, he founded the newspaper ''La Croix du Congo'', and some popular neighbourhoods (''cités'') for the inhabitants of Léopoldville. Due to health concerns, de la Kethulle returned to Belgium towards the end of his life. Two of his former students, both future government ministers

Thomas Kanza Thomas Rudolphe Kanza or Nsenga Kanza (10 October 1933 – 25 October 2004) was a Congolese diplomat. He was one of the first Congolese nationals to graduate from a university. From 1960 to 1962, he served as the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

Jean Bolikango Jean Bolikango, later Bolikango Akpolokaka Gbukulu Nzete Nzube (4 February 1909 – 17 February 1982), was a Congolese educator, writer, and politician. He served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic ...

, paid tribute to ''Tata Raphaël'' (father Raphaël), as he was popularly called. His remains were brought back to the Congo by boat and were buried in Léopoldville in the presence of more than 100 000 attendees. The big ''Stade Roi Baudouin'' was renamed ''

Stade Tata Raphaël Stade Tata Raphaël (Father Raphael Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Originally known as Stade Roi Baudouin (Baudouin of Belgium, King Baudouin Stadium) when it was inaugurated in 1952 and Stade du ...

'' in his honour after the end of president Mobutu's time in office in 1997.

Publications

* DE LA KETHULLE DE RYHOVE, Raphaël, "Le vagabondage à Kinshasa", in ''Congo'', 1922, II, p. 727-730. * Ibid., "De noodzakelijkheid van lagere en vakscholen", in ''Sint-Tillo Missiebond'', Bruges, 1931, 4, p. 5. * Ibid., "Les institutions sportives", in ''Congo belge'', 1944, p. 192-194. * Letters published in: Ibid., ''Congo belge'', 1944, p. 124-128; Ibid., ''Congo belge'', 1931, 111–114.

Literature

* R. STORME & P. DEHOPERÉ, "KETHULLE DE RYHOVE (DE LA) ''(Raphael-Marie-Joseph)''", in: '' Biographie Belge d'Outre-Mer'', volume VI, 1968, p. 573-576. * ''Généalogie de la Kethulle'', in: Annuaire de la noblesse belge, 1852. * Robert COPPIETERS 'T WALLANT, ''Notices généalogiques et historiques sur quelques familles brugeoises'', Bruges (1942). * Emmanuel COPPIETERS 'T WALLANT & Charles VAN RENYNGHE DE VOXVRIE, ''Histoire professionnelle et sociale de la famille Coppieters'', second volume, Tablettes des Flandres, Recueil 8, Bruges, 1968. * Emmanuel COPPIETERS, ''Raphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove, missionaris van Scheut'', in: Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, T. 4, Brussels, 1970. * Emmanuel COPPIETERS DE TER ZAELE, ''L'audacieux Tata Raphaël de la Kethulle, éducateur, créateur d'écoles et de stades à Kinshasa'', Brussels, 1990. * Hervé DOUXCHAMPS, ''La famille de la Kethulle'', Brussels, 1996. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kethulle de Ryhove, Raphael de la 1890 births 1956 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic missionaries Belgian Congo people Roman Catholic missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests Belgian nobility