Paul Lomami-Tshibamba was born on July 17, 1914, and lived until 1985. He was a Congolese journalist and author who was known as "the first giant of Congolese literature."

Life and career

Paul Lomami-Tshibamba was born on July 17, 1914, in Brazzaville, French Congo. His father was from Kasaï-Occidental, and his mother was from Ubangi, Belgian Congo. In 1921, he moved to Léopoldville, Belgian Congo, to live with his father.

He studied at the Minor Seminary of Mbata-Kiela in the Mayumbe region of Bas-Congo. The school was run by Belgian missionaries who encouraged students to become priests, but Lomami-Tshibamba did not become a priest. Five years after leaving school, he became deaf due to an illness. He received good medical care, but he never fully recovered his hearing.

Lomami-Tshibamba worked for the Belgian government. He helped create a Congolese newspaper called La Voix du Congolaise. In 1945, he wrote an article for the newspaper’s second edition titled, "Quelle sera notre place dans le monde de demain?" The article discussed issues about the social status of évolués (people who adopted European customs) and freedom of the press in the Congo. He compared the Belgian Congo to the French Congo and other African colonies, arguing that the colonial government was not preparing for independence as other territories were. A Belgian district commissioner believed Lomami-Tshibamba had help from a European person and ordered police to interrogate and whip him for three weeks. The punishment stopped when Lomami-Tshibamba told his superiors, and the governor general stepped in to help him. Later, he went to the French Congo to avoid being charged with a crime.

In 1948, Lomami-Tshibamba won first prize at the "Foire coloniale" (Colonial Fair) in Brussels for his novella Ngando (Crocodile). This work is considered the start of Congolese literature in French. It describes traditional beliefs during the colonial period in a story set near the Congo River. Themes of loneliness and cultural differences appear in his later works. After Congo gained independence, Lomami-Tshibamba returned and held government jobs. In 1962, he started a newspaper called Le Progrès (Progress), later renamed Salongo.

He continued to write stories and novellas throughout his life.