Emilio Bonelli y Hernando | |
|---|---|
 Bonelli depicted inLa Ilustración Española y Americana, 8 April 1885. | |
| Born | (1854-11-07)November 7, 1854 |
| Died | November 28, 1926(1926-11-28) (aged 72) |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Spain |
| Branch | Spanish Army |
| Service years | 1875–1882 |
DonEmilio Bonelli y Hernando (7 November 1854 inZaragoza,Aragon – 28 November 1926 inMadrid[1]) was a Spanish military officer, author, explorer, colonial administrator andAfricanist.
Bonelli entered theSpanish Army in 1875 and attended theToledo Infantry Academy, achieving the rank ofensign in 1878.[2] He left the Army in 1882, and undertook an expedition through the interior ofMorocco, crossing the territory betweenFez,Meknes andTangier.[3]
In 1884, Bonelli commanded an expedition to take the territory ofRío de Oro (Oued Edhahab),[4] occupying theAtlantic coast betweenCape Bojador (Ras Bujadur) and Cape Blanco (Ras Nouadhibou)[5] and founding Villa Cisneros (Dakhla).[4] On 26 December 1884, theKingdom of Spain declared 'a protectorate of the African coast', and on 14 January 1885 officially informed the othergreat powers in writing,[6] thereby establishingSpanish Sahara. In July 1885, Bonelli was appointed byKing Alfonso XII to the newly created position ofRoyal Commissioner on the West Coast of Africa[7] (which would later be renamed as Political and Military Subgovernor of Río de Oro),[8] managing to establish peace withtribes in the area.[9]
In 1913, Bonelli was a founding member of theLiga Africanista Española [es], of which he was vice president.[10]
Bonelli was the author of:[2]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
