Leopold II of Belgium

Leopold Louis-Philippe Marie Victor of Saxe-Coburg (April 9, 1835 – December 17, 1909), succeeded his father, Leopold I of Belgium, to the Belgian throne in 1865 as Leopold II, King of the Belgians and remained king until his death. Outside of Belgium, however, he is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by the King to extract rubber and ivory, which relied on slavery and was responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans.

Writings about Leopold

Many prominent writers of the time took part in international condemnation of Leopold II's exploitation of the Congo, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Booker T. Washington, and those mentioned below.

Related Topics:
Arthur Conan Doyle - Booker T. Washington

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The American mystic poet Vachel Lindsay wrote: "Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost / Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host / Hear how the demons chuckle and yell / Cutting his hands off, down in Hell."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild describes the history and brutality of King Leopold's rule in the Belgian Congo.

Related Topics:
King Leopold's Ghost - Adam Hochschild

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

King Leopold's Belgian Congo was described as a colonial regime of slave labor, rape and mutilation in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

Related Topics:
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark Twain wrote a biting sarcastic political satire, King Leopold's Soliloquy.

Related Topics:
Mark Twain - King Leopold's Soliloquy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More references

• Neal Ascherson: The King Incorporated, Allen & Unwin, 1963. ISBN 1-86207-290-6 (1999 Granta edition).
• Mass crimes against humanity in the Congo Free State