Alima S'Nabou (born c. 1880) was an African interpreter (from modern day Nigeria) who accompanied a French explorer named Lieutenant Mizon.

Biography

Alima S'Nabou was born to a

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

, Konanki, in the village of Igbobé, near Lokodja located at the confluence of the Benoue and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

rivers. She spoke and understood French, English, and other languages of the Niger Basin. S'Nabou was in Assaba, a location about 200 kilometres from her native village at age 10 or 11 when she met Mizon and her mother recommended that she accompany Mizon's mission to Lokodja so she could see her father, as Mizon was en route to Lokodja to see the developments there. At Lokodja, S'Nabou informed her father and grandmother that she would accompany Mizon on his expedition to Yola, the capital of Adamoua. The goal of the expedition was to connect the French posts in Yola to the Congo and to ensure separation of the German and French colonies by preventing the inward expansion of the German colony of Cameroon. S'Nabou assisted by communicating the feelings of the Sudanese people and proved to be useful in Mizon's quest of going up the river Niger in a steam boat. She also assisted in the recruitment of another member of the exploration team. She was celebrated alongside Mizon and "his two Arabs" at the

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by the Municipal Council upon their arrival in Paris in April 1892. Her portrait, ''Mademoiselle S'Nabou'', was painted in 1892 by

Adolphe Yvon Adolphe Yvon (30 January 1817 – 11 September 1893) was a French painter known for his paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. Yvon studied under Paul Delaroche, rose to fame during the Second Empire, then finished his career as a teacher. Career Ad ...

and is held in the

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in Paris. '' Le Monde illustré'' published an article about her, naming her as Sanabou, which said that she was "''en passe de devenir une celebrité Parisienne''" ("on the way to becoming a Parisian celebrity"). It was later stated that she was the niece of a pilot of the

Niger Company Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the north-east, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the south-west, Mali to the wes ...

who was bought as a slave. In September 1893, Mizon and his entourage left Yola on his boat and "dropped S'Nabou at the Catholic mission at Onitsha where she gave birth to a boy of light complexion".

Gallery

File:S'Nabou devant un miroir (phot. Ladrey-Disdéri).jpg, S'Nabou devant un miroir (phot. Ladrey-Disdéri) File:Mademoiselle S'Nabou (Yvon, 1892).jpg, Mademoiselle S'Nabou (

, 1892) File:Alima S'Nabou with her father and grandmother.jpeg, Alima S'Nabou, son père Akouani et sa grand'mère Éliah, 1894

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:S'Nabou 1880s births People from colonial Nigeria West African people Former slaves 19th-century Nigerian women 19th-century Nigerian people Nigerian slaves Year of death missing People from Kogi State