Prince Leopold III unveils National Monument to General Jacques du Dixmude (1930)

July 7, 1930, Prince Leopold III unveils a Monument to General Jacques de Dixmude. General Jacques is known for having founded the town of Albertville (Today Kalemie) in 1892 as a military post against the Arab Slavers and then defeating them in 1893, during the Congo Arab War.

Since 1930, General Baron Jacques de Dixmude has been gazing at the former front on the Grote Markt in Diksmuide. The bronze statue was cast by Alfred Courtens (1889-1967). It was converted into a monument, with a bluestone plinth and four corner statues, by his son Antoine Courtens. The official inauguration took place on 9 September 1930 in the presence of the Baron de Broqueville, then Minister of Defense. Jacques was initially active as a district commander in the independent Congo state, including in the fight against the slave trade. This is also apparent from the image of a negro slave and the mention of M'Pala 1892 on the pedestal of the statue. During the First World War, he was commander of the 12th Linieregiment (colonel) and, as deputy commander (general) of the Brigade Meiser, he defended the city of Diksmuide in the Battle of the Yser (October 1914). (Source: Stad Diksmuide) Technical description: Three-part hard stone plinth, the upper part of which narrows towards the top. On each corner of the pedestal is a statue: -front right a soldier in uniform with saber and flag; -front left a soldier in uniform with the rifle at rest; -back left : a bare-chested negro slave, with a clenched fist, the handcuffs still clamped around the wrist, in the other arm he carries a branch with fruit; -back right: a soldier with the rifle at rest, dressed in tropical costume. On the walls of the pedestal there are four memorial plaques between these figures. The bronze statue of General Jacques crowns this whole. He wears an army jacket, a helmet and a saber, while holding a pair of binoculars and looking into the distance.

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