Byre World - Mothers of the Belgian Empire’s Stolen Children, 12 February 2025

Byre World - Mothers of the Belgian Empire’s Stolen Children
Wednesday 12 February 2025, 6.30pm

Open to all, free entry - but places must be reserved in advance

Join the School of Modern Languages for the second Byre World event of the Candlemas semester.

During Belgium’s colonisation of what are now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, mixed-‘race’ children born from relations between European men and African women were taken from their mothers and placed in orphanages. As these African countries approached independence, many of the children were removed to Belgium. Most mothers never saw their children again. Their stories have been conveniently forgotten.

In conversation with François D’Adesky, who was forcibly separated from his Rwandan mother in 1953, Nicki Hitchcott and John D McInally discuss this traumatic episode in Belgium’s colonial history with a particular focus on the mothers of the Belgian empire’s stolen children and their stories.

This event has received financial support from The Royal Society of Edinburgh.

All Byre World events are free to attend and are open to all members of the University and the general public - but places must be reserved in advance.

See the Byre Theatre website for full details and to reserve your place.