Return to “the Heart of Darkness”: Dragutin Lerman’s Colonial Activities in Africa
Return to “the Heart of Darkness”: Dragutin Lerman’s Colonial Activities in Africa

Summary/Abstract: Dragutin Lerman’s career during the colonial period and his time in Africa are seldom examined critically. In other words, his involvement with Belgian King Leopold II is not given the detailed historiographical contextualization it deserves; instead, it is often presented as a romanticized tale of a daring Croatian explorer and cartographer who navigated exotic territories. This article aims to reevaluate Lerman’s participation in Leopold II’s colonial project by analyzing Lerman’s diary, letters, relevant secondary literature, and unpublished archival documents. Therefore, numerous sources from the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the City Museum of Požega, and newspapers from the late nineteenth century were used. To understand Lerman’s role in the colonization of the Congo, his activities in Africa are placed within the broader context of European conquest of the continent. Additionally, the article examines how Lerman’s surviving writings reflect the colonial rhetoric of the late nineteenth century. Ultimately, it seeks to determine the extent to which Lerman was aware of the atrocities committed during European colonization in the Congo.

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