The "negro of Banyoles" (Catalan: negre de Banyoles) is a controversial piece of taxidermy of a bushman which used to be a major attraction in the Darder Museum of Banyoles (Catalonia, Spain).[1] In 2000, the remains of the man were sent to Botswana for burial.[2]
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In the early 1830s, the Verreaux brothers mounted the corpse of a bushman.[1] In 1916, it was acquired by the Darder Museum of Banyoles.[3] The body remained in the museum without any controversies until 29 October 1991, when Alphonse Arcelin, a Spanish doctor of Haitian origin[4] living in Cambrils where he was a PSC councillor,[5] wrote a letter to the mayor of Banyoles, asking him to remove the bushman's remains from public view. The incident attracted the attention of the press which made it widely known.[2]
The first step for the return of the "negre" to Botswana was made in 1991, when the then-secretary of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, met the mayor of Banyoles. Later, when Kofi Annan reached the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations, he became interested in the issue and also spoke with the mayor of Banyoles.[2]
By that time, the "negre" had become so notorious that it was quite usual to hear references made to the mounted bushman in diplomatic announcements. Some African governments were showing their support for Arcelín, who had sent several letters to the press and various heads of government. The issue worried many international museum associations because it made them fear that human remains kept for research in museums might have to be returned to their original locations.[2]
In 1997, the issue was discussed in several sessions in both the UN and the Organisation of African Unity.[2] Later, in March of that year, the item was removed from the Darder Museum.[6] While it was described in El Mundo as a relic of colonialism[7] The removal bothered people in Banyoles because there he was considered as "a member of the family".[3]
Botswana's government offered help to the OAU to bury the man, once all of his remains had been returned to Africa.[2] In 2000, after the loincloth, feathered head-dress and spear he had worn in Banyoles were removed, the body was sent to the National Museum of Anthropology of Madrid where artificial parts including a wooden spine, eyes, hair, genitals and other external organs were removed. The skull and remaining bones were then sent to Botswana in a coffin[8] where they arrived on 4 October. He was buried on 5 October in the national park of Tsolofelo.[2]
The Darder Museum currently avoids any references to the controversy of the "negro of Banyoles". The only remembrance of the bushman in the museum is a silent video with black and white images shown in a little plasma screen which allows viewers to see the mounted man as he was exposed until being removed from the museum.[6]
Different books have dealt with the "el negre" controversy, most notably El Negro en ik (El Negro and me) by Frank Westerman, which shows that even naturalist Georges Cuvier knew about the man.[1]