Kimpa Vita

Beatriz Kimpa Vita (1684–1706), was a Kongo Empire prophet and leader of her own Christian movement, Antonianism, this movement taught that Jesus and other early Christian figures were from the Kongo Empire. Her teaching grew out of the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church in Kongo, and caused her to upbraid the Catholic priests for not believing as she did.

Early life

Beatriz Kimpa Vita was born near Mount Kibangu in the Kingdom of Kongo, now a part of modern Angola around 1684. She was born into a family of the Kongo nobility, probably of the class called Mwana Kongo, and was probably baptized soon after, as Kongo had been a Catholic kingdom for two centuries. Some modern scholars believe that she was connected to King António I (1661–65), who died at the battle of Mbwila (Ulanga) in 1665, because his Kikongo name Vita a Nkanga connects with her name. However, she cannot have been a child of his, given her birth date, and the naming theory is not supported, nor does any contemporary document mention it.