Antonio Emanuele Ne Vunda, also known as Antonio Manuel Nsaku Nvunda (or Vunta or Funda; died 1608), was an ambassador from the Kingdom of Kongo to the Vatican.

Career

Ne Vund was sent as ambassador by King Álvaro II in 1604.^[1][2] Ne Vunda traveled through Brazil and Spain and only reached Rome on 3 January 1608, but he died two days later of illness.^[3][1] He was the first African ambassador to the Holy See.

Legacy

A bust of Ne-Vunda made in colored marble can be seen at Santa Maria Maggiore, by Francesco Caporale in Rome.^[4]

A painting of Ne Vunda is visible in the Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, next to a painting depicting the 1615 embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga from Edo Japan.

References

Bibliography

• Teobaldo Filesi, Le relazioni tra il Regno del Congo e la Sede Apostolica nel XVI secolo, Pietro Cairoli, Como 1968.
• Luis Martínez Ferrer, Marco Nocca (ed.), “Coisas do outro mundo” A Missão em Roma de António Manuel, Príncipe de N’Funta, conhecido per “o Negrita” (1604-1608), na Roma de Paulo V, Urbaniana University Press, Città del Vaticano, 2003.