The Negro of Banyoles (, or ) was a controversial piece of

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...

of a San individual, which used to be a major attraction in the Darder Museum of

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan ''comarca'' " Pla de l'Estany". Although an established industrial centre many of th ...

(

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain). In 2000, the remains of the man were sent to

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

for burial.

History

In 1830, the Verreaux brothers stuffed the corpse of a member of the San. Analysis of the teeth shows that the man was approximately 27 years old, having features typical of the African bushman. In 1916, it was acquired by the Darder Museum of

. The body remained in the museum without controversy until 29 October 1991. At this date Alphonse Arcelin, a doctor of Haitian origin
Remains disappoint many
'', 6 October 2000, BOPA Daily News. who lived in Cambrils where he was a PSC councillor,«Lo trataron como a un antílope»
''El Mundo'', 4 October 2000. wrote a letter to the mayor of Banyoles, Joan Solana, asking him to stop displaying the San's remains. This request attracted the attention of the press, which widely published the story. The first step towards the return of the "''negre''" to Botswana was made in 1991, when the then-secretary of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, held the meeting with Joan Solana. Later, when

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

became

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the United Nations, he expressed interest in the issue and spoke with Solana. By that time, the "''negre''" had become so notorious that it was quite usual to hear references made to the displayed San in diplomatic communications. The fact that Banyoles was a site for some of the competitions of the Summer Olympic Games of 1992 gave it international relief. Some African governments showed their support for Arcelín, who had sent several letters to the press and various heads of government. The issue worried many international museum associations because it made them fear that human remains kept in museums might have to be returned to their place of origin. In 1997, the issue was repeatedly discussed by both the UN and the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

. Later, in March of that year, the body was removed from the Darder Museum. It was described in '' El Mundo'' as a relic of colonialism. Many people in Banyoles and the surrounding area were unhappy with the removal because the San was seen as "a member of the community".

Return to Botswana

's government offered to aid the OAU bury the man, once all of his remains were returned to the country. In 2000, after the loincloth, feathered head-dress and spear he had worn in Banyoles were removed, the body was sent to the National Museum of Anthropology in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

where artificial parts including a wooden spine, eyes, hair, and genitals were removed. The skull and remaining bones were then sent to Botswana in a box and they arrived on 4 October. He was buried on 5 October in Tsholofelo Park, in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

;The Dead and Their Possessions: Repatriation in Principle, Policy and Practice
edited by Cressida Fforde, Jane Hubert, and Paul Turnbull; chapter 20: ''Missing persons and stolen bodies: the repatriation of 'El Negro' to Botswana''; by Neil Parsons and Alinah Kelo Segobye; published 2004, by

Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 Research and Dovepress. It is a division of ...

his gravesite was declared a national monument.

Legacy

The Darder Museum currently avoids any references to the controversy of the . The only record of the San in the museum is a silent video with black and white images on a small plasma screen. The video allows people to see the San as he was displayed until his removal. Several books have dealt with the " controversy, most notably (El Negro and me) by Frank Westerman, which shows that

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

knew about the man. According to Westerman and the documentary ("The Negro Has a Name"), the person would be chief Molawa VIII, born between 1800 and 1805, deceased around 27 and taken by the Verraux from Litakou (now

Dithakong Dithakong is a place east of Kuruman in the Northern Cape, South Africa, which had been a major destination for several of the earliest nineteenth century expeditions from the Cape to the interior of the subcontinent. In colonial literature, its ...

in South Africa, not Botswana).

Bibliography

* Davies, Caitlin: The Return of El Negro. Johannesburg: Penguin Books 2003. * Fock, Stefanie: »Un individu de raça negroide«. El Negro und die Wunderkammern des Rassismus. In: Entfremdete Körper. Rassismus als Leichenschändung, ed. Wulf D. Hund. Bielefeld: transcript 2009, pp. 165 – 204. * Westermann, Frank: El Negro en ik. Amsterdam: Atlas 2004.

References

{{reflist

External links

Sample translation of El Negro and Me
Anti-black racism in Europe Human taxidermy 1830s deaths Province of Girona Pla de l'Estany 2000 in Botswana Year of birth missing San people Racism in Spain Individual taxidermy exhibits People from Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality 1800s births