Born in Baillif, Guadeloupe, Dec 25, 1745
Died in Paris, June 9, 1799
- Bologne (generally referred to by his title, “Chevalier de Saint-Georges”) was the son of a French planter in Guadeloupe and Nanon, an enslaved African woman. He studied fencing in France, became a master swordsman, gendarme and chevalier (knight).
- Saint-Georges was a virtuoso violinist and directed the Concert des Amateurs, one of Europe’s finest orchestras.
- Though he was blocked from becoming director of the Paris Opéra due to his color, he became successful a opera composer.
- He founded and directed the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the orchestra for which Saint-Georges commissioned Haydn’s “Paris” Symphonies.
- Around time of French Revolution, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges became associated with the abolitionist society Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of Friends of the Blacks).
- In 1792 he became colonel of the Légion des Américains et du Midi, a regiment of “citizens of color.”1
Sources
- Gabriel Banat, “Saint-Georges [Saint-George], Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 1, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000024316.