King Afonso I of Kongo

Mvemba a Nzinga, baptized as Afonso I, was born around 1456 in Mbanza Kongo. Ascending the throne of the Kingdom of Kongo (spanning northern Angola and western DRC) in 1509, he established schools, constructed stone churches, and sent his son Henrique to Rome, where he was consecrated as the first black bishop in Catholic history in 1518.

A literate, sophisticated statesman, Afonso established an extensive state bureaucracy and archives. Between 1514 and 1539, he wrote twenty-four eloquent diplomatic letters to King Manuel I and King John III of Portugal, denouncing rogue Portuguese merchants who kidnapped free noble Kongolese citizens into slavery and demanding strict royal regulation to protect his subjects' freedom.