Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Jérôme Becker (21 August 1850 – 30 March 1912) was a Belgian explorer and artillery officer who led several expeditions into

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

on behalf of the

International African Association The International African Association (in full, "International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of Central Africa"; in French ''Association Internationale Africaine,'' and in full ''Association Internationale pour l'Exploration et ...

(AIA) and 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 ...

, participating in some of the AIA's earliest explorations of Central Africa.Brigaglia, Andrea & Nobili, Mauro (2017) ''The Arts and Crafts of Literacy: Islamic Manuscript Cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa''. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 295. He was born at

Kalmthout Kalmthout () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Kalmthout, Achterbroek, Heide, Kalmthout, Heide, and Nieuwmoer. In 2021, Kalmthou ...

on 21 August 1850, the son of Guillaume-Joseph Becker and Anne-Marie Anthonissen, and joined the 5th Artillery Regiment before being seconded to the Military Cartography Institute. In this capacity, he was first sent to Central Africa under Jules Ramaeckers in 1880, travelling to Karema, where he participated in the development and "beautification" of the town, and befriended both

Mirambo Mtyela Kasanda (c. 1840–1884), better known as King Mirambo, was a Nyamwezi king, from 1860 to 1884. He created the largest state by area in 19th-century East Africa in present-day Urambo district in Tabora Region of Tanzania. Urambo district ...

and Tippu Tib. When Ramaeckers died on 25 February 1882, Becker was interim governor pending the arrival of Ramaeckers' official successor, Émile Storms. After Storms' arrival, villagers under Karema's Chief, Yassagula, attacked the Belgian fort, prompting Becker to lead a counterattack with his

askari An askari or ascari (from Somali, Swahili, and Arabic , , meaning 'soldier' or 'military', also 'police' in Somali) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African Great Lakes, ...

s and destroy the village.Dessy, E. (1948) ''Biographie Coloniale Belge'' I. Brussels. p. 93-98. In 1884, Becker was ordered to lead an expedition to

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

, to link a series of captured '' bomas'' with forts he would build further inland. Although Becker intended to push as far inland as

Nyangwe Nyangwe is a town on the right bank of the Lualaba River, in the Maniema Province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (territory of Kasongo). In the second half of the 19th century, it was an important Swahili–Arab hub for tra ...

, on the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...

, logistical problems and his own illness prevented the expedition from leaving

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

until 15 May 1885, when Becker ceded command to Adolphe Durutte. He returned to the Congo as a District Commissioner in 1885. Due to his pro-

i Arab sympathies, in 1889, he was sent to the

Stanley Falls District Stanley Falls District (, ) was a district of the Congo Free State. It covered most of the eastern part of the colony along the Congo River south from Stanleyville (present-day Kisangani). Location The explorer Henry Morton Stanley visited the a ...

of the

to try and re-establish good relations with Tippu Tib and his Arabs, who held ''de facto'' power in the region and had been made a salaried employee of the Free State two years previously. Although he failed to make any lasting contracts with Tippu Tib,Slade, Ruth (1962) ''King Leopold's Congo''. London: Oxford University Press he did acquire much

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

from him, and taught his son

Sefu bin Hamid Sefu bin Hamid or Sayf bin Hamed (1850 – 20 October 1893) was an Arabs, Arab Zanzibari slave trader and administrative official. The son of Tippu Tip, he was killed while fighting in the Congo–Arab war. Governor of the Stanley Falls Distri ...

to write

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

. Becker's sympathies led him to take the part of the Arabs, resulting in his fall from official favour and his resignation. He subsequently spent time staying with the Arabs, exploring the region with their trading parties, before returning to Europe in 1890 or 1891, shortly before the outbreak of the

Congo Arab War The Congo Arab war was a colonial war between the Congo Free State and Arab-Swahili warlords associated with the Indian Ocean slave trade in the eastern regions of the Congo Basin between 1892 and 1894. The war was caused by the Free State and ...

. In Belgium, he was accused of cruelty towards Africans and of attempting to murder Jules Ramaeckers, but was acquitted unanimously, the latter charge being proven false by a letter sent by Ramaeckers shortly after the alleged attempted murder. He retired shortly afterwards, and spent time in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

before being appointed Inspector of Explosives at Lillo in 1902. He died in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) 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 Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

on 30 March 1912 of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

caused by a fall. Becker believed that the

Arab slave trade The Arab slave trade refers to various periods in which a slave trade has been carried out under the auspices of Arab peoples or Arab countries. The Arab slave trades are often associated or connected to the history of slavery in the Muslim world ...

was an "excellent institution," and that Africans were happier as slaves than they were as free men, describing Tippu Tib's slaves as "happy, faithful and devoted". Middleton, Dorothy & Jephson, Arthur J. M. (1969) ''The Diary of A.J. Mounteney Jephson: Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, 1887–1889''. Routledge.

Honours

* :

Service Star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

* :

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie (, August 29, 1852 – 1922) was a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the order was awarded in five classes, with the Firs ...

Bibliography

*''La troisième expédition Belge au pays noir'' (1883), Bruxelles: J. Lebècue *''La vie and Afrique, ou; Trois ans dans l'Afrique central'' (1887), Paris: J. Lebègue

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Jerome 1850 births 1912 deaths Belgian explorers People from Kalmthout Explorers of Africa Congo Free State officials Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie 19th-century explorers