Malabo Löpèlo Mëlaka or King Malabo I (1837–1937), born on the island of Fernando Po (today

Bioko Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...

, Equatorial Guinea), was the son of former

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king

Moka Moka () is a village in Mauritius located in the Moka District, the western part of the village also lies in the Plaines Wilhems District. Since 1967 it forms part of Constituency No. 8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. The village is administered by ...

and served as king between 1904 until his death in 1937, during the Bahítáari Dynasty. One of his three sons, Francisco Malabo Beosá (1896–2001) was a successor to the royal throne as well as the final heir to the Bubi Kingdom.

Early life

Prior to his reign, King Malabo I served as the secretary to Sas-Ebuera from 1899 until 1904. When King Esáasi Eweera (also known as King Sás-Ebuera) was arrested by Spanish authorities and detained in 1903 for one year. King Malabo I, along with his brother, Lopelo Malabo Bioko, lost faith that an anti-colonial front against the reigning Spanish authority would see any success.

Reign as King

Despite not having full political influence, King Malabo I symbolically served as the King of Bioko Island during his reign. His administration conducted bureaucratic gestures such as thanking Francisco Alimama Kashu, a native of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

for his collaborating with local farms in improving farming techniques by giving him a plot of land in the village of

. Alimama Kashu eventually settled in Moka and married into the Malabo family. During his reign, the government of

Spanish Guinea Spanish Guinea (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Guinea Española'') was a set of Insular Region (Equatorial Guinea), insular and Río Muni, continental territories controlled by Spain from 1778 in the Gulf of Guinea and on the Bight of Bonny, in ...

received complete cooperation of the Bubi people, often using violent colonial methods to gain favorable results. The last anti-colonial uprising took place in 1910 at San Carlos, after the assassination of a European by the name of Leon Rabadan and two

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

policemen. The confrontation resulted in the death of fifteen thousand ethnic Bubi. Immediately after the insurrection, the colonial forces pressured King Malabo I to convince Bubi clan leaders to cease further retaliation. The colonial leaders only addressed the most resistant of the local leaders, such as Chief Riokalo.

Death and legacy

With the death of King Malabo I in 1937, who died in prison while serving a life sentence for killing Spanish colonial authorities on April 19 of the same year, the political influence of the Bubi administration as well as the traditional role of the tribal king dissipated. The Bahítáari Dynasty ended with the death of King Malabo I's son,

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

, in 2001. At the end of the 1970s and under the

toponymic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

Africanization Africanization or Africanisation (lit., making something African) has been applied in various contexts, notably in geographic and personal naming and in the composition of the civil service via processes such as indigenization. Africanization ...

policy of the new Equatorial Guinean government, the capital city of

Bioko Island Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...

, formerly known as the British

Port Clarence Port Clarence is a small village now within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Tees, and hosts the northern end of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bri ...

and the Spanish Santa Isabel, was renamed in honor of King Malabo I. In the early 1980s the Rey Malabo National Institute, formerly called

Cardinal Cisneros Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

, followed suit renaming their organization in honor of the king. Furthermore, many streets in several countries around the world have also been named in honor of King Malabo I.

External links

Noticia sobre la muerte de Francisco Malabo Beosa, uno de los hijos del rey Malabo, 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malabo Lopelo Melaka 1837 births Bubi people Equatoguinean prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Equatorial Guinea 1937 deaths Equatoguinean centenarians Men centenarians