Zamenga Batukezanga

Zamenga Batukezanga was a Congolese writer and philanthropist. Zamenga's work explored African culture. He's been named the "most popular Congolese writer" of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Career

Zamenga Batukezanga was born in nkobo- Luozi Bas-Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo. In the 1950s, he did his graduate studies at Mangembo and in 1960, a scholarship allowed him to study at l'Université libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium. Back in Congo in 1965, he was appointed Director of Student Social Work. In 1977, he opened a center for the rehabilitation of young people with physical disabilities, which he headed until 1981. In 1984, he was appointed director general of the National Society of Congolese publishers, composers and authors.

Later life and legacy

Towards the end of the 1980s, Zamenga decided to leave everything. He refused a post at Unesco in 1986 to devote himself entirely to writing and philanthropic works. He spent the last years of his life in his native region, serving the poor. He died on in Kinshasa
Every year, the Zamenga Batukezanga Literary Prize is awarded to a Congolese writer under the age of 40.

Selected works

Souvenir du village, 1971
Bandoki, 1973
Carte postale, 1974
Village qui disparaît dans les promesses, 1975
Les îles Soyo, éditions Zabat, 1979
', 1980
', 1980
', 1985
', 1988
', 1989
', 1990
', 1992
', posthumous work, 2005
, posthumous work, 2005

Award

1985: Grand Prize of the 20th anniversary of the 2nd Republic of Zaire for all of his literary work.

Legagy

Phambu Ngoma-Binda, , Éditions Saint Paul Afrique, 1990, 80 p
Wyatt Mc Gaffey, « », in Research in African Literatures, vol. 13, 2,