Emile-Désiré Parfonry (20 July 1857 – 24 March 1883) was a Belgian soldier who served in the Congo before the
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...
was established.
Early years
Emile-Désiré Parfonry was born in
Hotton
Hotton (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
The municipality lies 12 kilometers from Marche-en-Famenne in the Ardennes and has more than 5,400 inhabitants. The river Ourthe crosses Hotton.
The mun ...
, Luxembourg Province, Belgium on 20 July 1857.
His parents were Jean-Joseph Parfonry and Marie-Joséphine Robertfroid.
He joined the army and became a sub-lieutenant in the 10th Line Regiment.
In 1882 he joined the
Comité d'Etudes du Haut-Congo.
Congo expedition
On 15 August 1882 Parfonry left for Africa in the company of
Camille Coquilhat
Captain Camille-Aimé Coquilhat (1853–1891) was a Belgian soldier, explorer and colonial civil servant who finished his career as Vice Governor-General of the Congo Free State from 1890 until his death in 1891. He was notably an associate of ...
,
Henri Avaert, the accountant
Émile Brunfaut and Guillaume Vandevelde.
They arrived in
Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
on 22 September 1882, and on 26–27 September 1883 travelled up the lower
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
to
Vivi.
Brunfaur remained at Vivi, and on 30 September 1883 Coquilhat, Avaert, Parfonry and Vandevelde, along with
Édouard Destrain,
Louis-Gustave Amelot and the sailor Martin set off for
Isangila
Isangila, formerly called Isanghila or Isanguila is the headquarters of a sector of the Seke-Banza territory in Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Location
The lower part of the Congo River below Stanley Pool first de ...
.
On the way they met
Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, who had come down from the Upper Congo on the ''Royal''.
Parfonry remained in Isangila to replace
Anthony Bannister Swinburne, the head of the station, who was returning to Europe at the end of his term of service.
In March 1883 there were rumors of a revolt in Isangila, and Amelot accompanied
Théodore Nilis
Théodore Victor Edouard Adolphe Arthur Nilis (27 June 1851 – 23 April 1905) was a Belgian soldier and colonial official.
Early years (1851–1881)
Théodore Victor Edouard Adolphe Arthur Nilis was born in Brilow, Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussi ...
and
Joseph Vandevelde to come to the aid of Parfonry.
With the arrival of reinforcements the problem was resolved, and Amelot continued on to Manyanga.
That month the overall commander,
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...
replaced Parfonry by Avaert as head of Isangila and assigned Parfonry to work on the caravan route along the south of the Congo.
This difficult task had been abandoned in October 1882.
Parforny notified Nilis at
Manyanga
Manyanga was a staging post on the route from the coast to Léopoldville during the days of the Congo Free State.
It was at the upper end of a navigable reach of the Congo River from Isangila, further downstream to the west.
Above Manyanga goods h ...
of his new task on 4 March 1883.
He had only 40 Zanzibari workers, who were not trained in road construction, but were capable of the hard work of clearing and levelling the route.
On 10 March 1883 Parfonry heard that
Alphonse van Gèle
Alphonse van Gèle, also written van Gele or Vangele (25 April 1848 – 23 February 1939), was a Belgians, Belgian soldier who served as the List of colonial governors of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo, Vice-Governor General of the Congo F ...
had been ordered to join Stanley beyond the
Stanley Pool
The Pool Malebo, formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Mpumbu, Lake Nkunda or Lake Nkuna by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times, is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. , replaced as head of Lutete by Napoleon Lukšić.
Lukšić was immobilized by
Jiggers and Amelot was made interim station head at Lutete.
On 14 March 1883 Parfonry came down with sunstroke, and was carried to Manyanga for treatment by Doctor Vanden Heuvel.
On 18 March 1883 Lukšić, who was watching Parfonry as he slept, committed suicide with a revolver.
The sound woke Parfonry, who became delirious when he saw the corpse.
His illness developed into typhoid fever, and he died on 24 March 1883.
There is a Rue Emile Parfonry in his birthplace, Hotton.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parfonry, Emile Desire
1857 births
1883 deaths
Belgian soldiers
International Association of the Congo
Belgian explorers