Isidore Bakanja was a Congolese catechist and bricklayer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into the Boangi tribe, he was converted to Christianity in 1906 by Trappist missionaries. While working at a rubber plantation, he faced violent opposition from a Belgian agent for his religious activities. Following a brutal assault with a spiked whip, he died in August 1909. He is recognized as a blessed martyr within the Catholic Church for his steadfast faith.