Belgian Congo banknotes 20 Francs banknote of 1954 Mangbetu women

Belgian Congo Banknotes

Belgian Congo paper money

Belgian Congo currency - 20 Francs banknote of 1954, issued by the Central Bank of Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi - Banque Centrale du Congo-Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi - Centrale bank van Belgisch-Congo en Ruanda-Urundi.

Belgian Congo banknotes, Belgian Congo paper money, Belgian Congo bank notes.

Obverse: Nobosudru -  profile view of Mangbetu women with the classic hairstyle - it is one of the photos taken by Léon Poirier and George Specht during the second  Citroën expedition across Africa (Black Cruise: 1924 -1925). Mangbetu woman became a recurring motif of the Belgian colonial propaganda in the thirties. This iconographic operation was not limited to francophone countries and spread the image of Mangbetu across the western world. Lofoi Waterfall in background at center. The Lofoi Waterfall (also known as the Chutes Kaloba and the Chutes Lofoi) is a waterfall in Kundelungu National Park, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo and is one of the largest waterfalls in Central Africa. It is approximately 165 meters (540 feet) high and drops into the Lofoi River (Rivière Lofoi).
Reverse: Insitut Princess Astrid - The Bacteriolgical Laboratory in Leopoldville at center, African Congo warrior with spear at right.
In 1933, architect E. Haline-deVillefort designed the Institut Princesse Astrid next to the Hopital des Congolais in Kinshasa which was developed to improve the practice of tropical medecine. The Institute was named for Astrid, the wife of Leopold III, who became King in 1934. Leopold and Astrid visited the colony in 1925 and the Princess made a point of visiting the nearby Congolese hospital.

Watermark: Elephant's head.
Prevailing colour - Olive green on yellow underprint.


Nobosudru was the favorite of Tuba, a Mangbetou chief in Zaïre (Belgium Congo) during the 20s. Her astonishing hairstyle, typically worn by the women of her tribe, her very long neck and her hieratic profile, impressed the European members of the Citroën mission, better known under the name of Croisière Noire (Black Cruise), when they met her.

French President Gaston Doumergue mentioned to André Citroën and Georges-Marie Haardt the advantages of a regular link between the African colonies and Madagascar, a French territory isolated in the Indian ocean.

It was the beginning of the "Black Cruise", an expedition that was to demand more than a year of preparation, stir up unheard of enthusiasm amongst both the public at large and scientific, artistic and business circles, and lead to 8 half-tracks, fitted with the Kégresse propulsion device of rubber tread, covering more than 28,000 km across Africa, starting from Colomb-Bechar.
This is how Georges-Marie Haardt and his team crossed Algeria, the Niger, Chad, Oubangui-Chari and the Belgian Congo. In Kampala, their column split into four groups and reached the Indian ocean and Tananarive, each taking a different route (Mombasa, Dar-es-Salam, Mozambique and the Cape). They were given a rapturous welcome wherever they went.

This group, headed by Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil, crossed Belgium Congo and Center Africa from October 1924 to August 1925, stopped in Congo close to Niangara and spent a long time with the Mangbetou people. Their purpose was to explore the countries, to improve knowledge about animal species, ethnography, sciences, and to testimony about culture.

Profile views of Mangbetu women with the classic coiffure emerged as iconic images and circulated in many media in the West, ranging from postcards, trade cards and postage stamps to sculptures, jewelry, book ends and hood ornaments for cars. performances in Ekibondo, contributing to the artistic and aristocratic reputation of the Mangbetu.

Belgian Congo Banknotes.

Selected from two hundred ethnic groups make up the population of Congo-Zaire, Mangbetu listed three times on the notes of the Bank of the Belgian Congo (1909-1952) and those of the Central Bank of Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (1952-1960). A record knowing that there is only twenty vignettes illustrating various banknotes of the former Belgian colony.