HENCHTOVEN, EMILE van. - Jesuit, missionary, b. at Moll (Belgium) on 7 Oct. 1852, d. at Wombali (Belgian Congo) on 6 Apr. 1906. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1873 and was rector of the College at Mons until, when the Jesuits were invited to take part in the evangelization of the Belgian Congo, he volunteered and left Antwerp on 6 Mar. 1893 as superior and organizer of the new mission.
He founded a first station at Kimuenza (Leopoldville) and then a second at Kisantu, making the latter the radiating centre of all the others and equipping it not only with a church and schools but also with workshops for every kind of trade, printing presses, herds and extensive cultivated lands. His original initiative was the “farm-chapels,” small secondary stations designed to serve as links between the various main stations; these consisted of a small group of Christians led by one or more catechists, provided with farming tools and livestock for cultivating the land, attracting and instructing pagans in religion and agriculture, and at the same time offering them an example of orderly, hygienic and profitable living. In 13 years he had already created six main stations, linked by about 400 “farm-chapels.” Having relinquished the post of superior in 1901, he retired to the new station at Wombali, where he devoted himself unstintingly to his Negro people until his death.
A copious correspondence of Fr. H., very rich in information on the Congo mission and its development, is found in the periodicals: *Précis historiques*, *Bulletin mensuel des missions belges de la C. d. J.* (2-7 [1892-98]) and in the periodical that succeeded it: *Missions belges de la C. d. J.* (1-8 [1899-1906]).