A NIGHT AT THE PARIS OPERA
This is your day. You’re living your dream. Your partner flew you overseas and got two tickets to see Black Swan at the Paris Opera. Your eyes shimmer as you see the lights shine one last time on the baroque goldwork.
Cut to darkness.
Violins, flutes, and cellos rise in a melody no streaming app can reproduce. Your skin shivers, amazed by the conductor’s grace.
You brush down a coil of your hair because you must look absolutely perfect even in the dark.
You lean back in your red velvet cushions and you can’t help but wonder. Was there ever an exceptional Black musician on that stage?
BLACK EXCELLENCE, FRENCH EDITION
And the answer is yes, and even greater than you imagine.
Joseph Bologne, aka Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was one of the most gifted men of his time, so much so that Queen Marie-Antoinette personally advocated for him.
A violin virtuoso, some later called him the Black Mozart, but his curriculum only makes us wonder if it is not Mozart who should have been nicknamed the White Saint-Georges.
When Black excellence strikes once, it strikes twice.
Because being one of the best musicians ever born was not enough, he was also the best fencer in Europe. Not only that, but also a musketeer of the King, the first Black franc-maçon, the first Black colonel in the army, and a defender of Black people’s rights during the Revolution.
With such a pedigree, surely French history would have made him a national hero.
Hmm.
Take a seat, because you’re not going to like it.
WHY DOES THIS FEEL SO FAMILIAR?
First, I told you Marie-Antoinette absolutely fangirled him.
He was her music teacher, and she went on a campaign to make him the director of the Paris Opera. It did not happen because of extensive pushback against having a Black man at the head of the most prestigious orchestra in the world.
Now rewind to the part where he became the first Black colonel in the French army.
He created a legion of Black men to fight under the French Revolution, called the Légion Saint-Georges. As a thank you, he was later imprisoned under suspicion of allying with the monarchy.
I do not know when and how they forgot he fought so we could have rights.
And then Napoléon Bonaparte took power as Emperor and brought back slavery.
Stop.
You deserve a pause here.
Yes, France abolished slavery twice. Napoléon, one of France’s most revered historical figures, thought it would be a great idea to put it back in service. Most of Joseph de Bologne’s work was removed from France’s national repertoire and has only been rediscovered recently.
Black people live with this pressure of always having to strive harder.
Chevalier de Saint-Georges’s life is a cautionary tale. Black excellence at its utmost, and still failing to be recognized.
Black France Renaissance is an independent media platform. Our mission is to share a decolonial version of French history where Black people are central.
The Noir Letter features exceptional Black people forgotten by French national history. It extends the discussion from Black France and the French Atlantic slave trade to global abolitionism.
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I did not know about Joseph Bologne, but thank you for sharing this, it's always interesting to find out the parts of history that were hidden or pushed down.