Master swordsman, soldier, virtuoso violinist, composer known as the Black Mozart, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was described by US president John Adams as “the most accomplished man in Europe”.
Born in Guadeloupe in 1745, Joseph Bologne was the son of a French planter and his wife’s African slave. The elder Bologne acknowledged his son, gave him his name, and took him to France to be educated.
Not too much is known about Bologne’s musical education. He was already renowned as a master fencer when he made his debute as a soloist with the Concert des Amateurs playing his first two violin concertos in 1772. A year later he became concertmaster/conductor. He was a prolific composer. A list of his works can be found here. A couple of examples here:
Bologne served as a colonel of the French republic’s Légion franche de cavalerie des Américains et du Midi later known as the Légion St-Georges, the first all black regiment in Europe (which also included Thomas-Alexander Dumas, father and grandfather to Dumas père et fils.)
www.theneweuropean.co.uk/…
www.classicfm.com/…
en.wikipedia.org/...
Searchlight Pictures announced this past July that a film version of the life of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges is in the works, to be directed by Stephen Williams.
variety.com/...