Encyclopaedia Africana

Heroes and Heroines

  • 5 Min Read

Anton Muziwakhe Lembede, (1914-1947), was a founder and first president of the Congress Youth League (C.Y.L.), and was a major figure in the evolution of...

  • 2 Min Read

George Macartney (May 14, 1737-May 5, 1806) was the first British governor of the Cape Colony. He served from 1797 to 1798, shortly after the...

  • 2 Min Read

Cornelis Jacob Langenhoven (August 12, 1873-July 15, 1932) was a writer, journalist, and politician, but above all fighter for the rights of the Afrikaans language....

  • 3 Min Read

The Rev. Adolphe Mabille (June 12, 1836-May 20, 1894) was a noted Swiss missionary who worked for the Paris Evangelical Mission Society in Basutoland now...

  • 4 Min Read

Langalibalele (1818-1889) was the ruler of the AmaHlubi who had settled near Ntabamhlope on the foothills of the Kwahlamba (Drakensberg) mountains. He precipitated a crisis...

  • 3 Min Read

Saint Walata Petros (1594-November 24, 1643), one of the few women saints in Ethiopian hagiography, played a leading role in the anti-Catholic struggle waged by...

  • 2 Min Read

Giusto da Urbino (August 30, 1814-1856), an Italian Capuchin missionary in Ethiopia from 1846-1855, who became an authority on the Semitic languages of Ethiopia. Jacopo...

  • 3 Min Read

Kwane (circa 1640-1709), a councillor of Tshiwo, chief of the Ama-Xhosa, who ruled about 1685, was a noble-hearted commoner who founded the Ama-Gqunukwebe ethnic group,...

  • 5 Min Read

Thomas Hutton-Mills (June 1865-March 14, 1931), the first president of the National Congress of British West Africa, was a noted politician, statesman, educationist, and lawyer,...

  • 1 Min Read

C.S. Mabaso (?-1936) was an official of the African National Congress (ANC) in its early years. He was born and educated in Natal, and later...

Editor’s Note

This website features a collection of articles largely from previously published volumes of the Encyclopaedia Africana, specifically the Encyclopaedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, which highlights notable individuals from various regions of Africa. Please note that in these volumes, some names of people, towns, and countries were spelled differently than they are today. We have retained these historical spellings to preserve the integrity of the original publications. In some instances, the current spellings are also provided for easy reference.
Please report errors to: info@encyclopaediaafricana.com / research@encyclopaediaafricana.com

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Encyclopaedia Africana