Brazza was a born Italian and of aristocratic origin. His father was Count Ascanio Savorgnan di Brazza and came from Udine near Slovenia.
On this day the famous explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, one of the few Europeans from the colonial time who remained in good memory of African people, was born. For example, in 2005 a few African countries built, in his honor, a mausoleum in Congo, which cost about $ 10 million. He is celebrated as a founding father of the Republic of Congo. This good reputation is based on his struggle against slavery and exploitation of Africans, and on his humanitarian work.
Interestingly, Brazza was a born Italian and of aristocratic origin. His father was Count Ascanio Savorgnan di Brazza and came from Udine near Slovenia. Young Brazza’s birth name was Pietro, but he was educated in France, and later became a French citizen, and his name was changed to Pierre (Pietro and Pierre are, of course, Italian and French version of the name Peter).
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza joined the French exploration of Africa at the age of about 20. During his expedition in Central Africa a town was founded on the banks of the Congo River, which was later named Brazzaville in his honor. It is now the capital of the Republic of Congo and has a population of millions. Interestingly, across the river and exactly opposite of Brazzaville is Kinshasa (formerly named Leopoldville), which is the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire).
