Joseph Boulogne, le Chevalier de Saint-George, 1745-1799
Friday, February 18, 2011 at 9:51AM Tweet 
In honor of Black History Month in the US and Canada, I wish to introduce you to a little known Frenchman named Joseph Boulogne, le Chevalier de Saint-George, aka the “Black Mozart”.
Joseph was born in Guadeloupe to a black slave woman named Nanon and her former master, George Boulogne de Saint-George. George loved Nanon so when, in 1747, he was accused of murder for mortally wounding a man in a fencing duel, he fled to France, taking Nanon and three-year-old Joseph with him to keep them from being sold. Though George was eventually pardoned and allowed to return to his Guadeloupe plantations, he would install Joseph in France to receive a nobleman’s education.
Joseph was an exceptional student. He excelled in literature, horseback riding and most notably fencing. He was an expert marksman, thus earning the title of Chevalier. In addition, Joseph became a master of the harpsichord, a violin virtuoso and a prolific composer.
But it was no easy task to have dark skin in late 18th century France. Le Code Noir, issued in the 17th century to protect the interests of slave owners and traders, legalized racial segregation. White popular opinion, that Africans and their descendants were genetically inferior to white Europeans, held sway even amongst such notable thinkers as Voltaire. Despite his friendships with Mozart and Haydn; despite his friendly relations with the royal family, including Marie-Antoinette; despite the huge crowds that amassed to hear his operas and concertos; despite, as well, his position as the first black colonel of the French Army, Joseph was still obliged as a person of color to register his comings and goings with the government.
When Joseph was selected, under Louis XVI, to become Director of the Royal Opera, three divas thwarted the appointment in the grounds that “their honor and their delicate conscience could never allow them to submit to the orders of a mulatto.”
Joseph Boulogne died in 1799. During his short life of 54 years, he wrote 25 concertos for violin and orchestra, numerous string quartets, sonatas and symphonies as well as at least five, possibly six, operas. In the ensuing 200 years, however, he fell into obscurity. Critics contend that Boulogne’s fellow countrymen minimized his importance on the basis of his ethnic background.
So, I'd like to send a shout out to Lesa Cline-Ransome, author, and James E. Ransome, illustrator, for their new children's title: Before There was Mozart: The Story of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George.
Special thanks, too, to my friends Lee Wade and Anne Schwartz at Schwartz & Wade Books for helping to allow Joseph and his talents to shine once again!
Happy Black History Month!
