Louis Joseph Royaux

Louis Joseph Royaux (1866-1936) was a Belgian soldier, colonial administrator and explorer. He was born in Dinant on the 28 November 1866 the son of Alexander Royaux and Florentine Royaux (née Beaulot). On 3 April 1888 he enlisted in the 10e régiment de ligne of the Belgian Army, and was appointed as an instructor in the regiment's school in late 1890. He entered the service of the Congo Free State on 1 September 1892 as a sergeant of Force Publique, sailing from Antwerp aboard the "Lulu Bohlen" on 6 September 1892.

Congo Free State On arrival he was appointed to the Ubangi-Bomu expedition, leaving Boma on the 10 October 1892 and arriving in Zongo on 2 December where he was deputy to the Chef de Poste Heymans. Here he soon distinguished himself with his skills as an administrator and organiser. He subdued the populations of Ubangi district to the authority of the Congo Free State, being seriously wounded twice in skirmishes with the native people. Through his patience and common sense he learnt the local languages, persuading them to pay the taxes demanded by the Free State and conscripts for the Force Publique.

His first term ended in August 1895 and he returned to Europe, he began his second term on 6 April 1896 when he left Antwerp to return to the Congo as a lieutenant, and then captain of the Force Publique, lasting until 9 April 1902. He was appointed area manager for Banzyville on 23 February 1897, a role he combined with those of a commander of Force Publique, a military judge in Upper Ubangi and even that of a naturalist collector. He returned to Belgium in May 1902 and was charged by King Leopold II to join an expedition to Bahr el Ghazal towards the copper mines of Hofrah-el-Nahass, which prior to the Franco-Congolese Treaty of August 14, 1894 had been explored and occupied for the Free State by Kethulle de Ryhove and Nilis as part of the Lado Enclave. He left Belgium on 2 October 1902 and arrived in Doruma on 17 January 1903. He was accompanied by his deputy, Captain Landeghem, a geological engineer, several prospectors and a military escort of two companies of Force Publique, they crossed the northern border of Congo on 2 February 1903. The expedition's vanguard, led by Landeghem, marched northwards and reached Dem Ziber - also often spelled "Deim Zubeir" - but the expedition did not go beyond that as an Anglo-Egyptian intervention ended the mission.