The first communities of the Greeks in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
were established prior to Belgian colonization.
[Hellenic Republic: Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Democratic Republic of Congo: The Greek Community
The Greek presence reached a peak in the 1950s when many Greeks fled
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
following the
revolution of 1952. The Greek communities organized their own schools and churches and Greeks were active in trade, fishing, transport, coffee growing and the music industry.
[ Also, a small group of ]Greek Jews
The history of the Jews in Greece can be traced back to at least the fourth century BCE. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is pred ...
emigrated to the Congo in the early 20th Century.
History
Colonial Era
In the early to mid 20th century nearly all Congolese cities on the Belgian side had a Greek community and usually all hailing from a particular part of Greece as people would arrive, get settled in and send for their families.[Gary Stewart, ''Rumba on the River'', Verso, 2003, , ch. 2]
By the 1920s there were established Greek fishing and trading communities in the trading cities of Luapula
The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...
and Katanga, where the Greeks plied the river trade of the Congo, ranging as far as Zambia where many settled. The traders and fishermen developed a good and likable reputation and cultivated good relations with their Congolese and Zambian colleagues as they were always ready to offer help or lend their equipment and traditional Greek skills in net and boat making. Later the Congolese Greeks played a significant role in launching the country's important music tradition by founding several recording companies like Olympia, Ngoma, Opika and others.[ ]
Post-independence
When the country declared its independence in 1960 there were violent clashes and uncertainty followed by three decades of totalitarian rule by Mobutu Sese Seko which led to the exodus of most Greek settlers and the decline of the Greek community.
Around the year 2000 there were about 100 Greeks left in the capital Kinshasa and 200 in Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katang ...
. The holy temple of Saint George and the ''Club Hellenique'' are the focal points of the community. In 2006, 5,000 Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
lived in the DR Congo. Greek presence in modern Lubumbashi (former Elisabethville) has its roots in the 1920s. It is reported that in 1917, about 150 Greeks lived in the city the surrounding forests. More Greeks settled in the area during the periods 1936–39 and 1946–48. The Hellenic Community was established in 1923.The Hellenic Community of Lubumbashi appears very active. The schools of the Hellenic Community of Lubumbashi (SHCL) were founded in 1968 and operate since.
Language
Most Greeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo speak. French as their native language. Some can only speak Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
.
See also
*Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia ( el, Ομογένεια, Omogéneia), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus). Such places historically include Albania, North Macedonia, parts of ...
*Greeks in South Africa
Greek South Africans are South Africans of Greek ancestry from Greece and Cyprus. The Greek population in South Africa is estimated to be around 120,000.
Notable people
*George Bizos – human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid; ...
*Greeks in Zimbabwe
The Greeks in Zimbabwe comprise about 3,000 people of Greek origin, almost half of them from the island of Cyprus.Hellenic Republic: Ministry of Foreign AffairsZimbabwe: The Greek Community Zimbabwe currently hosts eleven Greek Orthodox churches ...
* Greece–Zimbabwe relations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greeks In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Greek diaspora in Africa
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
European diaspora in the Democratic Republic of the Congo