Ignatius Knoblecher (Slovene : Ignacij Knoblehar or Knobleher; 6 July 1819 – 13 April 1858), also known by his Arabian nickname Abuna Soliman (meaning "Our Father Solomon"), was a Slovene Roman Catholic missionary in Eastern North Africa. He was one of the first explorers of the White Nile basin.
Knoblecher was born in the small village of Škocjan in Lower Carniola. He studied at the secondary school in Rudolfswerth (now Novo Mesto), at the lyceum and the theological seminary in Laibach (now Ljubljana), and at the College of Propaganda in Rome. On 9 March 1845 he was ordained a priest, and a year later graduated as a doctor of theology.
When the Vicariate Apostolic of Sudan was established on 3 April 1846, the Congregation of Propaganda selected Knoblecher as one of the missionaries for the region. Before leaving for central Africa he spent eight months in Lebanon and at other places in Syria to acquaint himself with the rites and customs of the Oriental Christians. Towards the end of September, 1847, he left Cairo in company of Maximilian Ryllo, the Pro-Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa, and four other missionaries, and arrived at Khartoum on 11 February 1848. Here they established a school for young Africans whom they had purchased in the slave-market and who subsequently assisted them on their missions. Through them Knoblecher became acquainted with languages spoken in the interior of Africa, and was soon enabled to compile a sort of dictionary of these languages. In the mid-1850s, some of the children were transferred to Ljubljana, where they were accepted as objects of curiosity and with public contempt, baptised, and educated by local notables (e.g. Josip Stritar). They soon moved to other places or died due to harsh winters. [1] [2]
When Ryllo died on 17 June 1848, Knoblecher succeeded him as pro-vicar apostolic. From Khartoum, Knoblecher made an expedition into the interior of Africa in the fall of 1849. He ascended the White Nile (Bahr-el-Abiad) and was the first European to penetrate into the land of the Bari people, as far as 4° 10′ N. In 1850 he went back to Austria to recruit missionaries and collect money for the African missions. He returned to Africa in 1852 with five new missionaries, established a mission among the Bari tribe at Gondokoro, and in 1854 another among the Dinka or Jangeh people at Angweyn (Heiligenkreuz).
The missionaries were hampered by European merchants and slave-traders. Bad health cut short the lives of many of them, and Knoblecher himself died in Naples while making a journey to Europe to convalesce.
Accounts of his travels in Eastern North Africa were published in Jahresberichte des Marienvereins (Vienna, 1852–58). His extensive ethnographical and ornithological collections are preserved in museums in Vienna and Ljubljana, and the studies that he prepared on the Dinka and Bari languages are in the Austrian National Library.
Knoblecher was baptized Ignatius Knoblecher in 1819. [3] The spelling of his surname as Knobleher appears in Slovene publications by 1846, [4] and Knoblehar by 1849. [5]
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 6,344,348, Khartoum's metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan.
Daniele Comboni, MCCJ was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa from 1877 until his death in 1881. He worked in the missions in Africa and was the founder of both the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and the Comboni Missionary Sisters.
Gondokoro island is located in Central Equatoria. The island was a trading-station on the east bank of the White Nile in Southern Sudan, 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) south of Khartoum. Its importance lay in the fact that it was within a few kilometres of the limit of navigability of the Nile from Khartoum upstream. From this point the journey south to Uganda was continued overland.
The Bari are a Nilotic ethnic group in South Sudan, East Africa. The Bari speak the Bari language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Nilotic language family.
Škocjan is a settlement in the traditional region of Lower Carniola in southeastern Slovenia, best known as the birthplace of the Slovene missionary Ignatius Knoblecher (1819–1858). It is the seat of the Municipality of Škocjan and the Local Community of Škocjan within the municipality. The Municipality of Škocjan is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.
Richard Buchta(Austrian German pronunciation: [ˈrɪçart ˈbuxtɐ], 19 January 1845 – 29 July 1894) was an Austrian explorer in East Africa, travel writer, painter and photographer. Born in Radlow, Galicia, Austrian Empire, he traveled widely, first to Germany, France, the Balkans, and Turkey, Egypt and the Sudan. Upon his return to Germany and later to Austria, he published several books on the geography, ethnic groups and political conditions of the historic Sudan in the 1870s and 1880s. His historical photographs, taken mainly in southern Sudan, are regarded as the earliest photographs of ethnic people living along the White Nile and beyond.
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The Diocese of Wau is a Latin Church is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in South Sudan. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Juba, and depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rumbek is a diocese in Rumbek in the ecclesiastical province of Juba in South Sudan.
Ignatius Mrak was a Slovenian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette from 1869 to 1879.
Juan Maria Schuver was a Dutch explorer.
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Archdeacon Archibald Shaw was a pioneer missionary amongst the Dinka people with the Gordon Memorial Sudan Mission of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in southern Sudan in the first half of the 20th century.
South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a 2021 population of around 11 million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the community and elders acting as problem solvers and adjudicators. Today, most ethnic groups still embrace a cattle culture in which livestock is the main measure of wealth and used for bride wealth.
The history of South Sudan comprises the history of the territory of present-day South Sudan and the peoples inhabiting the region.
The Catholic Church in South Sudan is composed of one ecclesiastical province with one archdiocese and six suffragan dioceses. There have been a total of 31 bishops in South Sudan to date. The bishops of South Sudan and Sudan are currently members of one single bishops' conference, designated as Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
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Jean-Baptiste Anouilh, C.M. (1819–1869) was a Catholic prelate who served as the first Vicar Apostolic of Southwestern Chi-Li (1858–1869), Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Peking (1848–1858), and Titular Bishop of Abydus (1848–1858).
Maksymilian Stanisław Ryłło was a Polish Catholic missionary and a member of the Jesuit order. He is known for his missions to Middle East, where he founded the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, and his preaching ability. Ryłło was also the rector of the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide from 1844 to 1846.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ignatius Knoblecher". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:| Settlements | Administrative seat: Škocjan |  |
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