AMATSOUA, ANDRE
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PHOTO CAPTION: André Grenard Matsoua ma Ngoma. SOURCE: Congo Liberty.
André Grenard Matsoua (1899–1942) was a Congolese nationalist and religious leader who fought against French colonial oppression. After founding the Amicale des Originaires de l’Afrique Équatoriale Française in 1926 to advocate for African rights, he became a symbol of resistance and unity among his people.
André Grenard Matsoua ma Ngoma, Congolese (Brazzaville) political and social activist, was born in Manzakala in Kinkala in the Pool region of Kongo dia Mfu, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) on January 17, 1899. His father, Ngoma, a Lari-speaking man originally from the village of Mpangala, died before Matsoua was born. His mother, Nkoussou, born in Manzakala, thus had to raise him herself.
As a child and adolescent, he attended Catholic mission schools in the Mbamou region and at Brazzaville, the capital of Congo. Although he attended seminary, he ultimately abandoned plans for a religious vocation and moved to Brazzaville where he became active in politics.
In 1926, Matsoua founded Amicale des Originaires de l’A.E.F. (to assist Black people in France, to demand a voice for the Congolese and for all people from French Equatorial Africa (AEF) in the management of the Empire, to speak out against the Code de l’Indigénat, which requisitioned Africans for public utility work, denounced as disguised forced labour by anti-colonialists, and to demand the independence of the other colonies of the AEF) while living in Paris, France.
He attended events sponsored by the French Communist Party and helped develop black-based trade unions and rights for African freedom. Many came to consider Matsoua as a divine prophet, sent by God to liberate the Congolese from the French.
Through the Amicale, he and his followers petitioned for civil rights for Africans in French Equatorial Africa, including demands for French citizenship, and protested economic injustices, forced labour, and discriminatory legislation.
His sociopolitical association, whose resounding success among the Bakongo group in Brazzaville, then in Libreville, capital city of Gabon, and Bangui, capital city of the Central African Republic, worried the authorities all the more since it soon slipped into political action.
He was arrested in 1929 in Paris, deported to Matsoua Brazzaville in 1930, and tried by the colonial government for anti-colonialism. He was sentenced to exile for ten years in Chad, where he escaped in 1935 and fled to France. He was arrested in 1940 and sentenced to forced labour in Brazzaville in February 1941.
Matswa died on January 13, 1942, in Mayama prison, in French Congo. The precise circumstances of his death are disputed; colonial records claim death from illness (dysentery or similar), but his followers suspect mistreatment, torture, or concealment by colonial authorities.
Revered as one of the ancestors in the Kongo tradition, he was a great Ngunza (a spiritual religion or cult among the Kongo people) who distinguished himself in his anti-colonial struggle. However, he had more influence after his death than during his life. His followers, the Amicale, survived him after his death. They developed highly political and spiritual elements and adopted him as their Messiah, and became heavily involved in anti-French subversion.
His ideas influenced later nationalist politics in the Republic of Congo and French Equatorial Africa, broadly including Presidents Abbé Fulbert Youlou, Alphonse Massamba-Débat, and Denis Sassou-Nguesso, as well as the insurgent leader Bernard Kolélas.
In the Republic of the Congo, several institutions and landmarks have been named in honour of him, recognising his legacy as a national hero and anti-colonial leader. Among them is the Lycée André Grenard Matsoua, a well-known secondary school in Brazzaville that stands as a symbol of education and patriotism. Additionally, Avenue André Matsoua, one of Brazzaville’s major streets, serves as a central route for national events and parades, reflecting his enduring influence in the country’s history.
Statues and memorials dedicated to Matsoua can also be found in various parts of Brazzaville, particularly in the Makélékélé district, where he gained widespread popularity. His name continues to feature in cultural and educational references, embodying the spirit of resistance and national pride in Congo-Brazzaville.
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