Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s) (25 December 17459 June 1799) was a French violinist, conductor and composer. His historical significance lies in his distinctive background as a biracial free man of color. Bologne was the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in European music. He composed an array of violin concertos, string quartets, sinfonia concertantes, violin duets, sonatas, two symphonies and an assortment of stage works, notably opéra comique. Moreover he demonstrated excellence as a fencer, an athlete and an accomplished dancer.
Born in the French colony of Guadeloupe, his father, Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges, was a wealthy, white plantation owner, while his mother was one of the Creole people Georges kept enslaved. At the age of seven, he was taken to France where he began his formal education. As a young man he won a fencing contest leading to his appointment as a "" by king Louis XVI. Having received music and musical composition lessons, he joined the orchestra Le Concert des Amateurs; culminating in his appointment as its conductor in 1773.
In 1776, Saint-Georges began conducting the Paris Opera. However, this prospect was thwarted by opposition from certain performers who resisted the idea of being led by an individual of color. Around this time, he shifted his focus to composing operas. In 1781, he joined a new orchestra . By 1785, he had stopped composing instrumental works altogether. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Saint-Georges left for England. Upon his return to France, he joined the National Guard in Lille and then served as a colonel in the , which comprised "citizens of color". His connections to prominent figures such as Marie Antoinette and the Duke of Orléans, led him into the precarious realm of the Reign of Terror, culminating in a period of imprisonment spanning at least eleven months.
Saint-Georges, a contemporary of Mozart, earned the nickname "Black Mozart," but racism during that era obscured his recognition as a great composer. Saint-Georges's life and career are the subject of the 2022 biographical film Chevalier, with Kelvin Harrison Jr. portraying the composer.
Early life
Joseph Bologne was born on 25 December 1745 in Baillif, Basse-Terre, the illegitimate son of a settler and planter Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges and Nanon, a 17-year-old enslaved African who served within the family household. Bologne was legally married to Elisabeth Mérican (1722–1801) but acknowledged his son by Nanon and gave him his surname.
In 1747, when Georges Bologne was accused of murder, he fled to France. The next year he was visited by his wife, Nanon, and his son. After two years he was granted a royal pardon and returned to Guadeloupe. In August 1753, Joseph aged seven, was taken to France for his education, and installed in a Jesuit boarding school in Angoulême so his uncle Pierre could keep an eye on him. The couple accompanied by Nanon returned to Guadeloupe. Two years later, on 26 August 1755, listed as passengers on the ship L'Aimable Rose, Bologne de Saint-Georges and only Nanon landed in Bordeaux. Reunited with their son Joseph, they moved into a spacious apartment in the 6th Arrondissement (Rive Gauche).
At the age of 13, Joseph was enrolled in a private fencing academy run by Texier de La Boëssière's in Rue Saint-Honoré across Oratoire du Louvre, practising horse riding in the famous Salle du Manège. According to Antoine la Boëssière, son of the Master, "At 15 his progress was so rapid, that he was already beating the best swordsmen, and at 17 he developed the greatest speed imaginable." Bologne was still a student when he beat Alexandre Picard, a fencing master in Rouen, who had been mocking him as "Boëssière's upstart mulatto", in public. That match, bet on heavily by a public divided into partisans and opponents of slavery, was an important episode for Bologne. His father rewarded Joseph with a horse and buggy.
His father, called "de Saint-Georges" after one of his plantations in Guadeloupe, was a commoner until 1757, when he acquired the title of Gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi (Gentleman of the King's Chamber). On 5 April 1762, King Louis XV decreed that "" must register with the clerk of the Admiralty within two months. Likely because at the end of the Seven Years' War, blacks and free mulattos were seen as helpful as France was losing the war. Many leading “Enlightenment” thinkers argued that Africans and their descendants were inferior to White Europeans, as exemplified by Voltaire's views on race and slavery.