Emanuele Ne Vunda Explained

Antonio Emanuele Ne Vunda, also known as Antonio Manuel Nsaku Nvunda (or Vunta or Funda; died 1608), was an ambassador from the Kingdom of Kongo to the Vatican.

Career

Ne Vund was sent as ambassador by King Álvaro II in 1604.^[1] Ne Vunda traveled through Brazil and Spain and only reached Rome on 3 January 1608, but he died two days later of illness.^{[2] [3]} He was the first African ambassador to the Holy See.

Legacy

A bust of Ne-Vunda made in colored marble can be seen at Santa Maria Maggiore, by Francesco Caporale in Rome.^[4]

A painting of Ne Vunda is visible in the Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, next to a painting depicting the 1615 embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga from Edo Japan.

Bibliography

• Teobaldo Filesi, Le relazioni tra il Regno del Congo e la Sede Apostolica nel XVI secolo, Pietro Cairoli, Como 1968.
• Luis Martínez Ferrer, Marco Nocca (ed.), “Coisas do outro mundo” A Missão em Roma de António Manuel, Príncipe de N’Funta, conhecido per “o Negrita” (1604-1608), na Roma de Paulo V, Urbaniana University Press, Città del Vaticano, 2003.

Notes and References

1. Gray. Richard. 1999. A Kongo Princess, the Kongo Ambassadors and the Papacy. Journal of Religion in Africa. 29. 2. 140–154. 10.2307/1581869. 1581869. 0022-4200.
2. Book: Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585-1660. Heywood. Linda M.. Thornton. John K.. 2007-09-10. Cambridge University Press. 9780521770651. en.
3. Lowe. Kate. 2007. 'Representing' Africa: Ambassadors and Princes from Christian Africa to Renaissance Italy and Portugal, 1402-1608. 25593873. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 17. 101–128. 10.1017/S0080440107000552. free.
4. http://dcl.umn.edu/dcl/show_details?page=1&search=per_page%3D12%26q%3Dv_Antonio_Emanuele_Ne_Vunda%2Bo_full%2Bf_search_cache_title%26s%3Df_search_cache_title%2Br_DESC%26page%3D1 University of Minnesota