Negro of Banyoles

An illustration of the Negro of Banyoles

The Negro of Banyoles (Catalan: negre de Banyoles; Spanish: negro de Banyoles or negro de Bañolas) was the taxidermied body of a Southern African man that was displayed for more than 80 years at the Darder Museum in Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain.[1][2] Originally preserved by French taxidermists in the nineteenth century and exhibited as a natural history specimen, the display later became the subject of an international controversy over the public exhibition of human remains.[3][4] Following years of debate involving activists, African governments, the United Nations, and UNESCO, the remains were removed from display in 1997 and repatriated to Botswana in 2000 for burial.[4][2][5]

Identity and description

The man who became known as the Negro of Banyoles was estimated to have been about 27 years old when he died, based on an analysis of his teeth.[6] He was originally identified as a member of the San people.[6] According to Dutch writer and journalist Frank Westerman and the documentary El negre té nom ("The Negro Has a Name"), the individual may have been Chief Molawa VIII, who was born between 1800 and 1805 and came from Litakou (now Dithakong, South Africa).[7]

Exhibition and display

In 1830, French natural history collectors and taxidermists Jules Verreaux and Édouard Verreaux obtained the remains in southern Africa and preserved them using taxidermy techniques. Later examinations found that the body had been extensively altered for exhibition. A wooden spine and shoulder supports were added, along with artificial eyes, hair, and genitals. The figure was also stuffed with materials including newspaper, and arsenic was used during the preservation process.[3]

The brothers exhibited the remains in France, where they were displayed in various shops during the nineteenth century. Around 1886, Catalan veterinary surgeon and natural history collector Francesc Darder purchased the exhibit in Paris and added it to his collection. After unsuccessful attempts to profit from the display, he moved it to Barcelona. When Darder founded the Darder Museum in Banyoles, Catalonia, in 1916, the remains became part of the museum's collection.[8]

For more than 80 years, from 1916 to 1997, the man was displayed at the Darder Museum wearing a loincloth, feathered headdress, and carrying a spear. The exhibit became one of the museum's best-known attractions. According to later accounts, museum staff periodically applied shoe polish to maintain his appearance.[9][3]

Controversy

For much of the twentieth century, the Negro of Banyoles was displayed at the Darder Museum without significant public objection. On 29 October 1991, Alphonse Arcelin, a physician of Haitian origin living in Catalonia, wrote to Banyoles mayor Joan Solana and called for the exhibit's removal.[10][11] His campaign attracted widespread media attention and sparked debate about the public display of human remains.[4]

The issue gained international attention during preparations for the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Banyoles hosted rowing events. Several African governments supported Arcelin's campaign and calls for the Negro of Banyoles to be returned to Africa. Federico Mayor Zaragoza, then Director-General of UNESCO, discussed the matter with Solana, and later Kofi Annan, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, also expressed interest in the case. The dispute also raised concerns among museum organisations about the display and return of human remains.[4]

In 1997, the issue was debated by the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity.[4] The Negro of Banyoles was removed from public display in March of that year.[2] While some commentators described the exhibit as a relic of colonialism,[12] many residents of Banyoles and the surrounding area opposed its removal. After more than 80 years in the museum, some viewed the Negro of Banyoles as part of the local community.[13][3]

Repatriation

Botswana's government offered to assist the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in burying the man once all of his remains had been returned to Africa.[4][3] The skull and remaining bones were subsequently sent to Botswana and arrived on 4 October 2000.[14] He was buried the following day at Tsholofelo Park in Gaborone, and his gravesite was later declared a national monument.[4][15]

According to historian Jeff Ramsay, the repatriation was intended as an act of restitution and reconciliation that would symbolically return an African man to his homeland after nearly 170 years of exhibition in Europe. However, the process quickly became controversial. Many Batswana had expected the complete preserved body that had been displayed in Spain for more than a century. According to Ramsay, what arrived was not a body but a skull and a small number of bones contained in an unvarnished wooden box. The preserved skin, soft tissue, and ethnographic objects that had accompanied the display in Spain were not returned, and Spanish representatives provided no public explanation for their absence.[16]

Legacy

The Darder Museum currently avoids any references to the controversy of the negre de Banyoles. The only record of the San in the museum is a silent video with black and white images on a small plasma screen. The video allows people to see the San as he was displayed until his removal.[2]

Several books have dealt with the el negre controversy, most notably El Negro en ik (El Negro and me) by Frank Westerman, which shows that naturalist Georges Cuvier knew about the man.[6]

See also

Bibliography

  • Davies, Caitlin: The Return of El Negro. Johannesburg: Penguin Books 2003.
  • Fock, Stefanie: »Un individu de raça negroide«. El Negro und die Wunderkammern des Rassismus. In: Entfremdete Körper. Rassismus als Leichenschändung, ed. Wulf D. Hund. Bielefeld: transcript 2009, pp. 165 – 204.
  • Westermann, Frank: El Negro en ik. Amsterdam: Atlas 2004.

References

  1. ↑ "Ese negro es nuestro". Página/12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Natalia Iglesias and Pere Duran (12 April 2007). "El nuevo Museo Darder evita cualquier referencia a la polémica del 'Negro de Banyoles'". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "The man stuffed and displayed like a wild animal". BBC News. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yániz, Juan Pedro. "Vitrina de la polémica". ABC (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  5. ↑ "BBC News | AFRICA | Stuffed man buried in Botswana". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Antón, Jacinto (December 2006). "Un libro revela que Cuvier conocía al Negro de Banyoles". www.elpais.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  7. ↑ Rodríguez, Pau (17 June 2025). "En busca del nombre del 'Negro de Banyoles', el hombre disecado en un museo de Girona hasta el año 2000". ElDiario.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  8. ↑ "Página/12 :: Contratapa :: Ese negro es nuestro". www.pagina12.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2026.
  9. ↑ Doward, Jamie (10 March 2019). "The final indignity for 'El Negro', laid to rest in wrong country". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "Remains disappoint many". BOPA Daily News. 6 October 2000. Archived from the original on 3 February 2006.
  11. ↑ "Lo trataron como a un antílope". El Mundo (in Spanish). 4 October 2000.
  12. ↑ "Final feliz para "el negro de Banyoles"". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  13. ↑ Moret, Xavier. "De Banyoles a Botswana". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  14. ↑ "España sólo devuelve huesos del negro de Banyoles". Xornal.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ↑ Fforde, Cressida; Hubert, Jane; Turnbull, Paul (2004). The Dead and Their Possessions: Repatriation in Principle, Policy and Practice. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-34449-4.
  16. ↑ Ramsay, Jeff (2023). El Negro Return Presentation. Commonwealth Association of Museums Conference on Human Remains Management. University of Botswana. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
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