Jacob Morenga

Jacob Morenga, also Jakob, Jacobus, Marengo, and Marenga, known as the "black Napoleon", (1875 – 20 September 1907) was an important figure in Namibia, then the German colony of German South West Africa. He was chief leader in the insurrection against the German Empire which took place between 1904 and 1908, and was best known for forging an alliance between the rival Herero and Nama tribes.

Life Jacob Morenga was born to a Herero mother and Nama father. He was likely educated by Christian missionaries, and during his early adulthood, he worked at a copper mine and a Catholic mission in the vicinity of Springbok.

Morenga first became politically active through his association with Willem Christian, a leader of the Bondelswarts people. After Christian's son and successor, Jan Abraham Christian, was killed by German troops, the Bondelswarts launched a brief uprising in October 1903. Morenga served as one of the primary commanders of this uprising, which established his early reputation as a skilled tactician.

Captain Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck played a major role in the German pursuit of Jacob Morenga. During a 1906 gunfight against Morenga and his men, Captain von Lettow-Vorbeck suffered injuries to his left eye, which was left blind, and his chest.

The diverse and widely successful methods of attack used by Morenga's forces were enough to force a special election in the German Reichstag, due to the relatively heavy losses suffered by German troops. By August, it had become clear that Morenga had no intention of adhering to the conditions of his release. The CMP issued an arrest warrant against Morenga on 9 August 1907; meanwhile, Morenga successfully crossed the border into German South West Africa at some point between 13 and 19 August.

Morenga is honoured in the form of a granite tombstone with his name engraved and his portrait plastered onto the slab. Jakob Marengo Secondary School and Tutorial College in Windhoek's Khomasdal suburb is named after him.

In popular culture In 20th century German literature, Uwe Timm's 1973 novel Morenga revolves around Jacob Morenga's uprising.