Paul Costermans
Paul Marie Adolphe Costermans (born April 2, 1860 in Brussels , † March 9, 1905 in Banana ) was a high-ranking Belgian civil servant and Vice-Governor of the Congo Free State and played a key role in the development and development of the estate of King Leopold II of Belgium. In his honor the city of Bukavu was named Costermansville or Costermansstad between 1926 and 1954 .
Life
On December 13, 1880, Costermans obtained the rank of Sous-Lieutenant ( lieutenant ) at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels . From 1890 he began his service in the Force Publique , which exercised military and police powers for Leopold II in the Congo Free State. There he received the supreme command of the Stanley Pool district with the capital Léopoldville , whose continuous development he drove from then on. Above all, he campaigned for the completion of the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway . In 1897 he was promoted to commissaire général , two years later even to government inspector. From 1902 he was given the task of building a line of defense on Ruzizi on the border with the German East Africa colony in order to protect Belgian interests in this area. In this way, various artillery sites were created between Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika . From these former forts cities in the present-day South Kivu province emerged ( e.g. Uvira or Bukavu ). In 1903 Costermans returned to Belgium, where Leopold II appointed him lieutenant governor on November 20th. In 1904 he returned with the mission to the then capital, Boma , to establish a similar defense system on the border with the French Congo colony and to represent Belgian interests in the region. After the crimes and atrocities in the Free State uncovered and published by Roger Casement, public pressure increased on Leopold II and thus on Costermans. In the course of the subsequent investigation into the incidents, Costermans committed suicide on March 9, 1905 during a trip to the port city of Banana . He was buried in the cemetery in Vorst near Brussels.
various
Costermans was the bearer of various decorations, such as B. the Order of Lions , Leopold Orders , African Star Orders , as well as the Star of Honor and the Belgian Iron Cross. Costermans was known all his life for his restlessness and nervousness. His habit of pacing up and down his veranda at night also gives him the nickname gondoko ( leopard ), which the local population gave him.
Web links
- French biography of Paul-Marie Costermans on congoposte.be , accessed October 9, 2012
- Proof in the biography Coloniale Belge on kaowarsom.be , accessed on October 9, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.wissen.de/kalendar/9-maerz-1905-0?csm=truewissen.de : What was on March 9th, 1905?
- ↑ Burusa, Bizuru (1973): Naissance de Bukavu. Memoire présenté pour l'obtention du diploma de license en enseignement: Option histoire. Institut Superieur Pedagogique - Bukavu. 44ff
- ↑ http://africanhistory.about.com/od/march/a/td0309.htm This Day in African History: 9 March
- ↑ http://www.congoposte.be/costermans.htm
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Costermans, Paul |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Costermans, Paul-Marie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian lieutenant governor of the Congo Free State |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 2, 1860 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 9, 1905 |
| Place of death | Banana |