Kimpa Vita

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Kimpa Vita
Kimpa Vita's statue in Angola
Full name	Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita Nsimba
Known for	Founder of Antonianism
Born	1684, Angola
Died	July 2, 1706(1706-07-02) (aged 21–22), Angola

Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, also known as Kimpa Mvita, Cimpa Vita^[1] or Tsimpa Vita (1684 – 2 July 1706), was a Kongolese prophet and leader of her own Christian movement, Antonianism; this movement taught that Jesus and other early Christian figures were from the Kongo Kingdom.

The name "Dona" indicates that she was born into a family of high Kongolese nobility; she was later given the name "Beatriz" after the Catholic saint. Her teaching grew out of the traditions of the Catholic Church in Kongo, and caused her to upbraid the Catholic priests for not believing as she did.

Dona Beatriz believed the teachings of St. Anthony and used this claim to attempt to restore the ideal of Kongo as a unified Christian kingdom. Kimpa Vita is seen as an antislavery figure and as anticipating African democracy movements. While the role of Kimpa Vita is widely overlooked, the years of her movement are some of the best documented in Kongo's history.