Léon Auguste Théophile Rom (1859–1924) was a Belgian soldier and
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 a ...
official who became prominent in the administration of the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leop ...
during the late 19th century.
Career
Léon Rom was born to a poor family in
Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, in 1859 and entered the
Belgian Army
The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the 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 Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard ...
at the age of 16. He subsequently worked as a
customs official before leaving Belgium for the new
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leop ...
in 1886 as one of the few hundred whites working in the colony's administration.
Receiving a series of rapid promotions, Rom commanded the
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
at
Stanley Falls (now Boyoma Falls) and was eventually promoted District Commissioner of
Matadi
Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...
. He later transferred to the colonial military, the ''
Force Publique'', where he served as a captain. He was praised for his conduct during the
Congo Arab War
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
(1892–94) in which he personally negotiated the surrender of an Arab stronghold. After retiring from the ''Force Publique'', he worked as an official for the
Compagnie du Kasai
The Compagnie du Kasai (Kasai Company) was a Belgian company established to exploit the resources of the Kasai River basin in the Congo Free State.
At first it was mainly involved in harvesting wild rubber, but later moved into palm oil and mining ...
in central Congo.
Rom became most famous for the
alleged brutality of his administration in the Stanley Falls area. According to contemporary reports from
white missionaries, Rom had used the severed heads of 21 Congolese to decorate the flower beds of his house at Stanley Falls. He is also said to have kept a
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
permanently in place at his station. As the literary scholar
Peter Edgerly Firchow Peter Edgerly Firchow (December 16, 1937 – October 18, 2008) was an American literary scholar and educator. He wrote extensively on the relationship between British and German literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he was a lead ...
argued, however, displaying severed heads was not unusual in contemporary Central African society:
Still working for the Compagnie du Kasai, Rom died in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in 1924.
In popular culture
It has been argued that Rom served as the inspiration for the character of
Mr. Kurtz, an ivory trader who features prominently in
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not sp ...
's 1899 novella ''
Heart of Darkness
''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...
''. Among those who have made this argument are
Adam Hochschild
Adam Hochschild (; born October 5, 1942) is an American author, journalist, historian and lecturer. His best-known works include ''King Leopold's Ghost'' (1998), '' To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914–1918'' (2011), '' Bu ...
who argued in ''
King Leopold's Ghost
''King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa'' (1998) is a best-selling popular history book by Adam Hochschild that explores the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between ...
'' that Rom and Conrad may have met in 1890. Other scholars have rejected this.
Rom notably features as the main
antagonist in the 2016 film ''
The Legend of Tarzan'', in which he is portrayed by the Austrian actor
Christoph Waltz.
See also
*
Atrocities in the Congo Free State
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
External links
ROM (Léon Auguste Théophile)at the ''Biographie Coloniale Belge'' (1951)
Archive Léon Rom Royal Museum for Central Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rom, Leon
1859 births
1924 deaths
People from Mons
19th-century Belgian military personnel
Congo Free State officials
Officers of the Force Publique