Mark Huntington Higgins (June 26, 1940 – July 25, 1960) was an American student employed in Lambarene,

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, West Africa by

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

from May 1959 to June 1960.

Early and personal life

Mark Huntington Higgins was born to Carter Chapin Higgins and Katharine Bigelow. His paternal grandfather

John Woodman Higgins John Woodman Higgins (September 1, 1874 – October 19, 1961) was an American businessman and owner of the Higgins Armory Museum. Early & personal life John Woodman Higgins was born to Milton Prince Higgins (December 7, 1842 - March 8, 1912) and ...

founded the

Higgins Armory Museum The Higgins Armory Museum is the name of a collection in the Worcester Art Museum. It was formerly a separate museum located in the nearby Higgins Armory Building in Worcester, Massachusetts, dedicated to the display of arms and armor. It was "th ...

in Worcester, Mass. His older brother was

Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was a ...

and his younger sister is Lisa Higgins Null. Mark Higgins was schooled in Worcester and at

Milton Academy Milton Academy (also known as Milton) is a highly selective, coeducational, University-preparatory school, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lowe ...

. Following graduation from prep school, he spent one year in psychiatric rehabilitation before leveraging his family's connections to go to work for the

Albert Schweitzer Hospital Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

in Lambarene, Gabon, Africa. At the Schweitzer Hospital, he was assigned general handyman duties and progressed to becoming a medical technician who assisted a team of American cardiologists in identifying the causes of heart disease among certain tribes of Gabon. Higgins ventured from the Schweitzer Hospital following one year of assigned work, and began a land-based journey that was to take him to Israel. First, he had to cross through the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, which in July 1960 had just acquired independence from Belgium. He succeeded in crossing the newly independent

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 ...

by steamboat, railway and on a commercant (commercial truck) as far as Kasongo in Kivu Province. He was detained in Kivu due to internal strife and the war of Congolese independence. Higgins was mistaken for a Belgian spy and murdered in

Kasongo Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Geography Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama Rive ...

on July 25, 1960. Two months passed before the U.S. State Department and his family were notified of his death, which was widely reported in American media, notably with a full-page story in LIFE Magazine on October 31, 1960 ("Last Journey for an idealistic American"), and a two-column story in Time Magazine on October 31, 1960 ("The Wanted American"). Higgins is memorialized in the book entitled "Against the Current: How Albert Schweitzer Inspired a Young Man's Journey" (Oakham Press, Westport, Connecticut, 2014).

Death

Higgins died on July 25, 1960 in Kasongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is buried in

Rural Cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries. They were typically built one to five ...

(Worcester, Massachusetts).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Mark Huntington 1940 births 1960 deaths Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts Burials at Rural Cemetery (Worcester, Massachusetts) People murdered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo American people murdered abroad 20th-century American businesspeople 1960 murders in Africa American expatriates in Gabon