Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chevalier de Saint Georges aka the Black Mozart

This info came from my friends at Black Paris Tourrs
  Did you know?

December 25, 1745
Chevalier de Saint Georges -- Called the Black Mozart! 

"Born December 25, 1745 in Guadeloupe he would become one of the most dazzling and fascinating figures in the French Court of Louis the 16th and other courts in Europe.

As a violinist, pianist, poet, musical composer and actor, he was phenomenal; as a swordsman, he so far eclipsed the best of his time that in his prime no one could match him; as a marksman none could pull the trigger with such unerring aim; as a soldier and commander, he performed prodigious feats on the field of battle. 

As a horseman, dancer and swimmer he was the most graceful in a land supreme for its grace and elegance.  In dress, he was the model of his day, setting fashions in England and France. A King of France, a future King of England and royal princes all sought his favor and company and to top it off, he possessed a spirit of rare generosity, kindness and moral rectitude.

The object of sometimes overt racial controversy, he survived two assassination attempts and in his later years, would abandon the aristocratic world of his upbringing to become an early supporter of racial equality in France and England."
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"Not much is known of Saint George’s mother who was given the name "Nanon". Initially Nanon must have been one of the Bologne-Saint-George’s household slaves. The famous swordsman Henry Angelo claimed that Saint George’s mother Nanon was "one of the most beautiful women that Africa has ever sent to the plantations" and that "St-Georges combined in his person his mother’s grace and good looks and his father’s vigor and assurance". read more

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