List of colonial governors of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo

This is a list of European colonial administrators responsible for the territory of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Belgian Congo (dark green) depicted with Belgian Ruanda-Urundi (light green), 1935.

International Association of the Congo

Prior to the creation of the Congo Free State, the International Association of the Congo (IAC) had signed treaties with over 300 native Congolese chiefs and in effect exercised sovereignty over a large area of the Congo Basin. The IAC was headquartered in Belgium and run by a committee under the presidency of Maximilien Strauch. Prior to the creation of the office of Administrator-General, authority on the ground in the Congo had been exercised by a Chief of Expedition, who until April 1884 was Henry Morton Stanley.^[1]

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Position	Term of office			Notes
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Francis de Winton (1835–1901)	Administrator-General	22 April 1884	1 July 1885	1 year, 70 days

Congo Free State

Administrators-General / Governors-General

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Position	Term of office			Notes
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Francis de Winton (1835–1901)	Administrator-General	1 July 1885	April 1886	9 months
	Camille Janssen (1837–1926)		April 1886	17 April 1887	6 years, 3 months
		Governor-General	17 April 1887	1 July 1892		[2]
	Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)		1 July 1892	15 November 1908	16 years, 137 days

Vice Governors-General

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Position	Term of office			Notes
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Camille Janssen (1837–1926)	Vice Administrator-General	25 September 1885	April 1886	6 months
	Herman Ledeganck (1841–1908)	Vice Governor-General	31 January 1888	January 1889	11 months	[3]
	Henri Gondry (1845–1889)	Acting Vice Governor-General	January 1889	18 May 1889	4 months	[4]
	Camille Coquilhat (1853–1891)	Vice Governor-General	1890	24 March 1891	0–1 years	[5]
	Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)		15 April 1891	1 July 1892	1 year, 77 days	[6]
	Francis Dhanis (1861–1909)		4 September 1896	1897	0–1 years
	Émile Wangermée (1855–1924)		11 April 1897	1 December 1897	234 days
	Alphonse van Gèle (1848–1939)		1 December 1897	10 January 1899	1 year, 40 days
	Paul Costermans (1860–1905)		January 1904	March 1905	1 year, 2 months
	Félix Fuchs (1858–1928)	Governor-General ad interim	25 December 1902	4 March 1904	1 year, 70 days
		Vice Governor-General	1907	1908	0–1 years
	Albert Lantonnois van Rode (1852–1934)		May 1905	1906/7	1–2 years

Belgian Congo

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Position	Term of office			Notes
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Théophile Wahis (1844–1921)	Governor-General	15 November 1908	20 May 1912	3 years, 187 days
	Félix Fuchs (1858–1928)		20 May 1912	5 January 1916	3 years, 230 days
	Eugène Henry (1862–1930)		5 January 1916	30 January 1921	5 years, 25 days
	Maurice Lippens (1875–1956)		30 January 1921	24 January 1923	1 year, 359 days
	Martin Rutten (1876–1944)		24 January 1923	27 December 1927	4 years, 337 days
	Auguste Tilkens (1869–1949)		27 December 1927	14 September 1934	6 years, 261 days
	Pierre Ryckmans (1891–1959)		14 September 1934	31 December 1946	12 years, 108 days
	Eugène Jungers (1888–1958)		31 December 1946	1 January 1952	5 years, 1 day
	Léo Pétillon (1903–1996)		1 January 1952	12 July 1958	6 years, 192 days
	Hendrik Cornelis (1910–1999)		12 July 1958	30 June 1960	1 year, 354 days

On 1 July 1960, the Belgian Congo became independent as the Republic of the Congo (République du Congo).

See also

• Colonization of the Congo Basin
• Belgian colonial empire
• Minister of the Colonies (Belgium)
• List of colonial governors of Ruanda-Urundi
• List of presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• List of prime ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Notes

1. Boulger 1898, pp. 258–59.
2. Janssens & Cateaux 1908, p. 20. Janssen continued as an Honorary Governor-General until his death.
3. Janssens & Cateaux 1908, p. 163. He left for the Congo on 6 February 1888 and returned to Europe on 19 May 1889.
4. Janssens & Cateaux 1908, p. 165. He left for the Congo on 6 January 1889 to replace Ledeganck.
5. Janssens & Cateaux 1908, p. 48. He embarked for the Congo on 28 March 1890 and was named Vice Governor-General shortly after his arrival.
6. Janssens & Cateaux 1908, p. 28. He was appointed Vice Governor-General on 19 November 1890, but did not arrive to take over his post until 15 April 1891.

References

• Boulger, Demetrius Charles (1898). The Congo State: Or, The Growth of Civilisation in Central Africa. London: W. Thacker & Co.
• Gann, Lewis H.; Duignan, Peter (1979). The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884–1914. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Henige, David P. (1970). Colonial Governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present: A Comprehensive List. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-05440-3.
• Janssens, Édouard; Cateaux, Albert (1908). Les Belges au Congo: notices biographiques. Antwerp: J. van Hille-De Backer.

External links

• World Statesmen – Congo (Kinshasa)