Paul Panda Farnana

Paul Panda Farnana (* 1888 in Nzemba , Banana ; † May 12, 1930 ibid) was a Congolese agronomist who became known as an opponent of Belgian colonialism.

Farnana was the son of a Congolese chief and thus also had the rank of chief (M'fumu Paul Panda Farnana) . In 1900 he traveled to Belgium to accompany the family of Lieutenant Derscheid. However, the lieutenant, his wife and their baby died on the trip, so Farnana arrived in Belgium alone. There he was accepted by Louise Derscheid , a sister of the lieutenant, who made it possible for him to attend the Athénée d'Ixelles high school . From 1904 to 1907 he attended the school for agriculture and horticulture in Vilvoorde, which he graduated with the certificat de capacité specializing in tropical plants. In 1908 he enrolled at the École supérieure d'Agriculture tropicale in Nogent-sur-Marne, where he received a Certificat d'études . In addition, he perfected his English skills at the École supérieure commerciale et consulaire in Mons.

In 1909 he was hired by the Belgian colonial office as chef de cultures de troisième classe and sent to the Jardin botanique d'Eala near Coquilathville . He was the first black African official in the Belgian colony. At the end of his mandate in 1911, he was awarded the Étoile service . In December of the same year he was appointed director of the Kalamu station, where he collected samples for the herbaria of the Jardin botanique national de Belgique .

During the First World War , Farnana joined the Corps de Volontaires congolaisé . He came into German captivity, where he came into contact with the Tirailleurs sénégalais and heard from Blaise Diagne , who had been a member of the French National Assembly since 1914. In 1919 he returned to Belgium and was released from civil service at his own request. In February he took part in the first Pan-African Congress in Paris, in the summer of the same year he took part in the founding of the Union Congolaise , a “society for the promotion of the moral and intellectual development of the Congolese race”, which was founded by Colonial Minister Louis Franck and the Minister of Justice Émile Vandervelde was supported. He became President, Albert Kudjabo Secretary of the Union. This supported poor and sick members and offered free education, but soon also made political demands such as better pay for wage labor, the extension of the training period and a say for the Congolese in the colonial administration.

In 1921 Farnana took part in the second Pan-African Congress, where he gave a lecture on “The history of negro culture on the banks of the Congo” and demanded that African diplomats should also be represented in the international commissions of the mandate administration for the former German colonies in Africa . On behalf of the Union Congolaise , he organized courses for the Congolese at the Belgian Colonial Office, which took place in Brussels, Charleroi and Marchienne. When La Renaissance de l'Occident was devoting itself to Congolese art, Farnana spoke there about the art and the future of handicrafts in the Congo and denounced the export of local works of art to European museums as rationalized vandalism.

In 1929 he returned to his homeland. He built a school and a chapel in Nzemba, built an oil mill and ordered a brick press from Europe. Under never-cleared circumstances, he was poisoned in 1930 and died on May 12th.

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personal data
SURNAME	Farnana, Paul Panda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Congolese agronomist
DATE OF BIRTH	1888
PLACE OF BIRTH	Nzemba
DATE OF DEATH	May 12, 1930
Place of death	Nzemba