Catarina Zenab

Catarina Zenab
Caterina Zenab
Born1848 (1848)
Dinka village, South Sudan
Died1921 (aged 72–73)
CitizenshipSudanese
OccupationsCatholic missionary and evangelist
Known forOne of the first Dinka Catholic evangelists and early companions of Daniel Comboni

Catarina, sometimes Caterina, Zenab (1848–1921) was a Sudanese Catholic missionary.

Early life and education

A member of the Dinka people, born in a Dinka village, Zenab studied at the Holy Cross Mission before traveling with Daniele Comboni to Khartoum in 1860. Fluent in Dinka and Arabic, she assisted the missionaries in developing a dictionary and grammar of the Dinka language. She traveled to Verona to study before returning to Khartoum in 1873 to teach in the mission schools.

Career

Zenab spent her entire career as a missionary in Khartoum, Cairo, and Omdurman, evangelizing among the Dinka, many of whom were enslaved in those cities. She has been called "perhaps the first Christian Dinka evangelist".

References

  1. 1 2 Bengt Sundkler; Christopher Steed (4 May 2000). A History of the Church in Africa. Cambridge University Press. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-521-58342-8.
  2. ↑ Kathleen E. Sheldon (2005). Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5331-7.