author

Ivo Struyf

1876–1950

A Belgian writer and missionary, he is best remembered for gathering and retelling Bakongo stories from Central Africa. His work opens a window onto folklore, language, and oral tradition that early 20th-century readers in Dutch and French rarely encountered.

1 Audiobook

Uit den Kunstschat der Bakongos

Uit den Kunstschat der Bakongos

by Ivo Struyf

About the author

Born in 1876 and dying in 1950, he published work under the name Ivo Struyf, with some records also listing him as Yvon or Ivon Struyf. Library and bibliographic sources connect him with Belgium and with writing drawn from the Congo.

His best-known book is Uit den Kunstschat der Bakongos (1908), a collection centered on Bakongo folklore. Other cataloged works include La langue congolaise (1910), Negersprookjes (1924), Bakongo-vertellingen (1924), and Fables et légendes congolaises (1928), showing a lasting interest in both storytelling and language.

From descriptions of his work, Struyf gathered stories during time spent in the Kwango mission and presented them as part of the oral tradition of the Bakongo people. Today, his books are mainly of interest for readers curious about early folklore collecting, colonial-era writing, and the transmission of Central African tales into European print.