Casimir Zagourski

Casimir Zagourski (in Polish Kazimierz Zagórski) (1883–1944) was a pioneering photographer of Central African peoples and customs.

Casimir Zagourski
Ostoja coat of arms that Zagourski was entitled to bear
Born	Kazimierz Zagórski 9 August 1880 Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died	10 January 1941 Léopoldville, Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo)
Education	Imperial Russian Air Force (aerial intelligence)
Known for	Photography
Notable work	postcards; portraits; L'Afrique qui disparaît!

Zagourski was born in Zhytomyr in 1883. He was a Pole, from the noble Clan of Ostoja. He served in the Imperial Russian Air Force until 1917, rising to the rank of colonel, and in the Polish military during 1920.

He emigrated from Europe in 1924 and settled in Léopoldville (Belgian Congo), gallicizing his name and opening a photographic studio. Between 1924 and his death he travelled widely in Central Africa, undertaking expeditions to photograph "disappearing" native African traditions in 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1937.

His albums and a postcard series collectively entitled L'Afrique qui disparaît! gained him considerable renown.

He died in Léopoldville in 1941.

Sources

• Krzysztof Pluskota. "Atelier Photo Cinématographique—C. Zagourski." In Christraud M. Geary, In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960. London: Philip Wilson, 2002. ISBN 0-8566-7551-2. pp. 59–68.
• Christraud M. Geary. "The Image World of Casimir Zagourski." In In and Out of Focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885-1960. London: Philip Wilson, 2002. ISBN 0-8566-7551-2. pp. 69–79.
• Zagourski: Lost Africa. Skira, 2001. ISBN 88-8491-008-0.
  • Zagourski: Africa perduta. Skira, 2001. ISBN 88-8491-006-4.

External links

• Casimir Zagourski postcard collection in Yale University Library.
• Holdings of Zagourski photographs in the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at the National Museum of African Art.
• Web gallery of Zagourski postcards.