![WernerMunzinger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/WernerMunzinger.jpg)
Werner Munzinger (4 April 1832 in
Olten
Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name.
Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub of ...
,
Switzerland – 14 November 1875 in
Awsa,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
) was a
Swiss administrator and explorer of the
Horn of Africa.
Life and career
He was born in
Olten
Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name.
Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub of ...
, and studied science and history at the
University of Bern
The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...
, then later took courses in
Oriental studies at
Munich University
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
and the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
. He was the son of
Josef Munzinger, member of the
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governm ...
.
In 1852 Munzinger arrived at
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, where he spent a year improving his
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
. Entering a French mercantile house, he led a trading expedition to various parts of the Red Sea. Until 1855 he served as French consul at
Massawa, when he moved to
Keren where he spent the next six years exploring the lands of the
Bogos
The Bilen (also variously transcribed as Blin, and also formerly known as the Bogo, Bogos or North Agaw) are a Cushitic ethnic group in the Eritrea. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren and further s ...
. In 1861 Munzinger joined
Theodor von Heuglin
Martin Theodor von Heuglin (20 March 1824, Hirschlanden, Württemberg5 November 1876), was a German explorer and ornithologist.
Biography
Heuglin was born in Hirschlanden (now part of Ditzingen) in Württemberg. His father was a Protestant pas ...
in an attempt to explore central Africa, but separated from him in November, proceeding along the
Gash and
Atbara
Atbara (sometimes Atbarah) ( ar, عطبرة ʿAṭbarah) is a city located in River Nile State in northeastern Sudan.
Because of its links to the railway industry, Atbara is also known as the "Railway City'.
As of 2007, its population is 1 ...
to
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 ...
. There he succeeded von Heuglin as leader of the expedition, and travelled in 1862 to
Kordofan
Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory ...
, but failed to reach
Darfur and
Wadai.
After a short stay in Europe in 1863, Munzinger returned to the north and north-east borderlands of Ethiopia. In 1865 Munzinger managed the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...
along the border of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, but remained in
Massawa, after the
1868 British invasion of Ethiopia, where he became the
French consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
. There, according to Augustus B. Wylde, he married a woman of
Hamasien
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into e ...
and convinced one of the local warlords, ''Wolde Mikael'', to cede the province of Hamasien to France. Munzinger sailed to France, and by early 1870 had an expedition ready at
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
to sail to Massawa when the
Franco-Prussian War broke out, and French resources were diverted to this higher priority, whereupon he left the service of the French.
[Augustus B. Wylde, ''Modern Abyssinia'' (London: Methuen, 1901), pp. 21ff] In July of that year he was sent to
Aden, where he joined Captain S.B. Miles on an expedition into the interior of the southern Arabian peninsula. He then left the French and entered the service of the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian government of
Khedive Ismail
Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...
, serving as governor of the Keren region and Massawa (modern-day
Eritrea). Once he reached his command, his first act was to place the Bogos once again under Egyptian rule.
[
In 1875, Munzinger led one of the three prongs of the Egyptian attack against Ethiopia, marching inland from ]Tadjoura
Tadjoura ( aa, Tagórri; ar, تاجوراء ''Tağūrah''; so, Tajuura) is one of the oldest towns in Djibouti and the capital of the Tadjourah Region. The town evolved into an early Islamic center with the arrival of Muslims shortly after the ...
, but his troops were overwhelmed by the army of ''Mahammad ibn Hanfadhe'', Sultan of Aussa, and he was killed in battle. Wylde includes in the list of dead Munzinger's wife and child.[Wylde, ''Modern Abyssinia'', p. 25]
Writings
Munzinger published the following works:
* ''Über die Sitten und das Recht der Bogos'' (1859)
* ''Ostafrikanische Studien'' (1864; 2nd ed., 1883)
* ''Die deutsche Expedition in Ostafrika'' (1865)
* ''Vocabulaire de la langue de Tigré'' (1865)
He wrote numerous geographical papers, and a memoir on the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea for the ''Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde'', new series, volume 3.
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munzinger, Werner
1832 births
1875 deaths
Explorers of Africa
Swiss military personnel killed in action
Swiss explorers
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
University of Paris alumni
University of Bern alumni
People from Olten