African Studies Program Sandwich Seminar

Florence Bernault, Department of History, describes how in October 2006, Congo-Brazzaville’s and France’s authorities organized the transfer of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza to Brazzaville. The remains of the Franco-Italian explorer of Gabon and Congo were unburied from a private grave in Algiers and transferred downtown Brazzaville, in a spectacular Memorial covered in glass and marble. This paper will explore and interpret some of the controversies sparked by the event.