The story of Chevalier de Saint-Georges, one of the most famous Black French historical figures, is coming to the big screen.
[Kelvin] Harrison Jr. will play the title character, known historically as the Black Mozart, an illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner. The artist rose to improbable heights in French society as a world famous fencer and celebrated violinist-composer, only to face an abrupt downfall after an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.
Hmmm, well I think we have enough here to debunk and clarify.
Firstly, his name was Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. His mother was a 16-year-old African slave of Senegalese origin, who was forced to be the maid to Elisabeth Mérican, the wife of Joseph Bologne Sr. Despite being illegitimate, the young biracial boy was given his father’s name and acknowledged as his heir. Saint-Georges was taken to France to be educated and became a noted fencer and violinist-composer. All that is accurate.
The stuff that gives me pause is the whole “ill-fated love affair ” and “falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court” thing. Natalie Dormer fans might be familiar with some of this because of the film The Scandalous Lady W (2015), but lemme break it down for the rest.
Saint-Georges had an affair with Seymour Dorothy Fleming, Lady Worsley while she was fleeing from Paris to escape her debts. Lady Worsley was already infamous at that point for having other affairs and a notorious divorce. But that had nothing really to do with Saint-Georges and more to do with her alleged 27 lovers before she ever met him.
As for Marie Antoinette drama … I mean, maybe? Firstly, it wasn’t her court, it was her husband’s, Louis XVI. The only thing where I could see them having beef was that under King Louis XVI, the order of the Conseil du Roi of 5 April, 1778 forbade “whites of either sex to contract marriage with blacks, mulattos or other people of color” in the Kingdom. This was put into effect because the number of Black people had increased in the capital of Paris, but even that wasn’t as severe as the anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S.
This is probably why, during the French Revolution, Saint-Georges served as a colonel of the Légion St.-Georges, the first all-black regiment in Europe, fighting on the side of the Republic—especially since the Republic abolished slavery and got rid of laws like the former (until Napoleon brought it back later). However, even serving under the Republic, it was hard for him to get funds, and racism was really the largest struggle the composer faced during his life—not any singular historical figure.
This is probably why it is more cinematic to manufacture some beef between him and the biggest name in French history, regardless of whether it has any truth to it.
My issue isn’t with blanket historical accuracy, but in the seeming simplicity of it all. If anything, his downfall had more to do with a backstabbing military man fighting him tooth and nail to make sure Saint-Georges was dismissed from the army and ordered to leave his regiment—which, again, was part of the racist structure.
I am hopeful that the movie will just bring more attention to who Saint-Georges was, so at the very least he won’t just get called “Black Mozart” all the time, especially since they were literally contemporaries.
(via Variety, image: Eugène de Beaumont., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
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