Saint-Georges, Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de

(ca. 1739 -1799)

   composer, violinist, conductor

   The mulatto son of a French nobleman and a former slave, Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de saint-Georges was born in Basse-Terre, Guadaloupe. Brought to Paris by his father, Saint-Georges studied the violin with noted artists and composers. An acclaimed musician, he then directed the Concert des amateurs and was one of the founders of the Concert de la Loge olympique. The majority of his compositions (sonatas, quartets for strings, concertos) were written between 1772 and 1779. The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had seen him play and conduct some of these pieces that, in turn, may have influenced his own work (Saint-Georges has been called the Black Mozart). Favored by King louis XVI, Saint-Georges was considered for a time for the position of director of the Paris Opéra. During the revolution of 1789, he served as a captain of the National Guard and led a battalion composed of many of black volunteers known as Saint-Georges's Legion. An outspoken proponent of equality and human rights, he was imprisoned under the terror because of his aristocratic background. Released in 1794, he died in relative obscurity.