Slavery Biographies | Edmund Dene Morel Biography

Born c. 1873
Paris, France
Died November 12, 1924
Devonshire, England

Journalist, author, public speaker,
government lobbyist, anti-war activist

Edmund Dene Morel was a twenty-eight-year-old, French-born shipping clerk and freelance writer working in Liverpool, England, when he discovered evidence of horrendous crimes being committed against the people of Africa by the king of Belgium, Leopold II (1865-1909). Instead of looking the other way, as he was encouraged to do by his employers, Morel spent the next ten years exposing the crimes of King Leopold. In pursuit of his goal, Morel founded and ran a weekly newspaper and an international human rights organization. His efforts stand as a great example of what a single person can do—even against the greatest of odds—to fight injustice in the world.