Chapter 4 The Effervescence of Individual Life: Cornelius Badu, Born 1847 in Elmina, Gold Coast
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Abstract
Cornelius Badu, born in 1847 in Elmina, in what is now Ghana, spent most of his life elsewhere: in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland – where he lived amongst the poor – and in various locations throughout West and Central Africa. Badu had first-hand experience of Europe’s social contradictions, and was prepared to use this knowledge as a tool against European (especially German) supremacy. For a short time, he worked for a missionary society but quit rather than perform the role of a grateful African convert. He grew wealthy as a trader but joined a German expedition to the Congo. Always a misfit, Badu’s struggle to secure a place in the world offers a colourful example of the ways that imperialism evolved during the late nineteenth century: gone was the cross-cultural social space in which men like Badu could thrive on the strength of their intellect. In its place arose a racial order, within which there was no room for him, or others like him.