Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Comment on “Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) Was 54 When He Died”

[Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Violin Concertos, Op. 5, Nos. 1 & 2; Op. 3, No. 1; Op. 8, No. 9; Bernard Thomas Chamber Orchestra; Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Violin; Arion 68093 (1990)]

Parisienne Postcards published a post entitled “Le Nègre des Lumières” on Sept. 22, 2009. It says, in parts, “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges was born Joseph de Bologne on the 25th of December 1745.” “In 1799, living alone in a small apartment in Paris he succumbed to an untreated bladder infection. He was taken in and cared for by an old friend, Nicolas Duhamel, until his death on the 10th of June 1799. He was 60 years old.”

We observed: “If in fact Saint-Georges was born in 1745, he was 54, not 60, when he died in 1799. The age of 60 is, however, consistent with the biography Le Nègre des Lumières (1999) by Alain Guédé, which states that Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges was born in 1739.

"Three major biographies have been published since 2004: The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow (2006) by Gabriel Banat; Le chevalier de Saint-George (2004) by Claude Ribbe in French; and Joseph de Saint-George, le Chevalier Noir (The Black Chevalier) (2006) by Pierre Bardin. The authors of these works examined historical documents related to Saint-Georges, and all found that the authentic date of birth of Saint-Georges is Christmas Day, 1745.”

The following comment has been made today, Sept. 23, 2009 by the author of Parisienne Postcards: “Bonjour, Thank you for visiting and thank you very much for correcting my math! If you do not mind, I would like to add the reference books that you listed? Kind regards, Loui" [Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

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