Joseph-Aurélien Cornet FSC (born 20 May 1919 in Bièvre, died 20 January 2004 in Ciney, Belgium[1]) was a Belgian-born Christian Brother, ethnologist and art historian who documented the art and culture of the Congolese region and people of the Congo in photographs, illustrated field notebooks, and language primers for nearly 30 years.
[4] The IMNC was founded without either a building or any objects, so Cornet's primary task was to develop the museum's collections.
He documented his findings in field notebooks and binders of photo negatives with the aim of eventually developing a ten volume History of Congolese Art.
[5] Cornet retired from the directorship of the IMNC in 1987 and returned to Belgium in 1992 where he continued researching, publishing and lecturing, especially on tracking looted objects from the museum following the 1997 collapse of the Mobutu regime.
[6] Following his death in 2004, Cornet's archive of photographic negative binders, field notebooks, language and personal notes, printed materials, and other research objects were donated to the Loyola University New Orleans Special Collections & Archives.