Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges ✝

was a French champion fencer, violinist and composer.A Creole free man of colour,[a] he is the earliest European musician/composer of African descent to receive widespread critical acclaim. He published numerous string quartets, sonatas, symphonies, and stage works (opéra comique).

Saint-Georges was born in the then-French colony of Guadeloupe, the son of wealthy, married planter Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges and an enslaved Senegalese African woman named Nanon. At the age of seven he was taken to France for his education; from the age of thirteen he trained at horse riding, fencing, and dancing. Two years later he beat the strongest fencer and was appointed "gendarme de la garde" by King Louis XVI.

He is believed to have received music and composition lessons from François-Joseph Gossec. In 1769 he joined his orchestra, Le Concert des Amateurs. By 1771, Saint-Georges had been appointed the orchestra's concertmaster and had started composing his own music. Iin 1773, he succeeded Gossec as the orchestra's conductor.

In 1776, Saint-Georges was proposed as the next conductor of the Paris Opera but was subsequently denied this role because he was a person of colour. Around this time, his work as a composer began to focus primarily on the creation of operas. After Le Concert des Amateurs disbanded in 1781, he joined a new orchestra that was called Le Concert de la Loge Olympique formed by one of the many masonic lodges. By 1785, he had stopped composing instrumental works altogether.

Following the 1789 outbreak of the French Revolution, and approaching 45 years of age, Saint-Georges left for England. Back in France he served as a colonel of the Légion St.-Georges, established in 1792 which comprised "citizens of colour". After the defection of Charles François Dumouriez and execution of Jacques Pierre Brissot and the Duke of Orléans he became a victim of the Reign of Terror and was imprisoned for at least 11 months. The dissolving of the Légion, and losing his military position he enjoyed the cafes, shops and theaters around the Palais-Royal. He died in the Marais at a friend's house.

Saint-Georges' life and career is the subject of the 2022 biographical film Chevalier, in which he is portrayed by Kelvin Harrison Jr