Zamenga Batukezanga

Congolese writer and philanthropist

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Zamenga Batukezanga

Born	(1933-02-20)February 20, 1933 Bas-Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)
Died	June 2, 2000(2000-06-02) (aged 67) Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)
Occupation	Author, public speaker
Alma mater	Université libre de Bruxelles
Genre	Fiction, essays, poetry
Notable works	Mille kilomètres à pied (1979) Un boy à Pretoria (1989)

Zamenga Batukezanga (1933–2000) was a Congolese writer and philanthropist. Zamenga's work explored African culture.^[1] He's been named the "most popular Congolese writer" of the Democratic Republic of Congo.^[2]

Career

Zamenga Batukezanga was born (1933-02-20) February 20, 1933 (age 91) in nkobo- Luozi Bas-Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo. In the 1950s, he did his graduate studies at Mangembo and in 1960, a scholarship allowed him to study at l'Université libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium. Back in Congo in 1965, he was appointed Director of Student Social Work. In 1977, he opened a center for the rehabilitation of young people with physical disabilities (Kikesa), which he headed until 1981. In 1984, he was appointed director general of the National Society of Congolese publishers, composers and authors.

Later life and legacy

Towards the end of the 1980s, Zamenga decided to leave everything. He refused a post at Unesco in 1986 to devote himself entirely to writing and philanthropic works. He spent the last years of his life in his native region, serving the poor. He dies on (2000-06-02)June 2, 2000 (age 67) in Kinshasa^[3]

Every year, the Zamenga Batukezanga Literary Prize is awarded to a Congolese writer under the age of 40.^[2]

Selected works

Souvenir du village, 1971
Bandoki, 1973
Carte postale, 1974
Village qui disparaît dans les promesses, 1975
Les îles Soyo, éditions Zabat, 1979
Lettre d’Amérique, 1980
Un Croco à Luozi, 1980
Psaumes sur le fleuve Zaïre, 1985
Un Blanc en Afrique, 1988
Pour une démystification: la littérature en Afrique, 1989
Un boy à Pretoria, 1990
Laveur des Cadavres, 1992
Pour un cheveu blanc, posthumous work, 2005
La Mercèdes qui saute le trou, posthumous work, 2005

Award

1985: Grand Prize of the 20th anniversary of the 2nd Republic of Zaire for all of his literary work.

Legagy

Phambu Ngoma-Binda, Zamenga Batukezanga : Vie et Œuvre, Éditions Saint Paul Afrique, 1990, 80 p
Wyatt Mc Gaffey, « Zamenga of Zaire: Novelist, Historian, Sociologist, Philosopher and Moralist », in Research in African Literatures, vol. 13, No. 2 (Summer, 1982), p. 208-215 Zamenga of Zaire: "Novelist, Historian, Sociologist, Philosopher and Moralist" on JSTOR

References

^ "DES PARTICULARITÉS LEXICALES ET DES EMPRUNTS DANS L'ŒUVRE ROMANESQUE DE ZAMENGA BATUKEZANGA" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-26.
^ ^a ^b "Le 3ème prix Zamenga ouvert à tous les littéraires congolais". Media Congo (in French). Retrieved 11 December 2019.
^ Zamenga Batukezanga, 5 ans déjà depuis sa disparition ! Ne Nzau Diop, Le Potentiel, 25 juin 2005