Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne, chevalier de, 1745-1799

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (b. Dec. 25, 1745, Baillif, Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe–d. June 10, 1799, Paris, France) was the son of planter George Bologne de Saint-Georges and Anne, a 16-year-old African slave. Saint-Georges's legitimacy was acknowledged since his father gave him his last name, Bologne. In 1753, his father took Joseph to France for his education and became a well known fencer, beating Alexandre Picard, a fencing-master, in Rouen. Upon graduation from the Royal Polytechnique Academy in 1766, Bologne was made an officer of the king’s bodyguard and a chevalier. He later returned to look after father's plantation in 1764 but relocated to Paris after his father's death.

It is not known about Saint-Georges musical training but he was a violinist, concertmaster, and director for François Gossec's orchestra, Le Concert des Amateurs. He became the director or the Paris Opéra in 1886. Saint-Georges composed several operas, symphonies, concertantes, chamber music, and vocal music.

In 1792, Saint George was appointed colonel of Légion nationale des Américains & du midi, a new delegation of free men of color, by Julien Raimond. During the French revolution he was imprisoned but released. In 1796, he accompanied his 15,000 troops to Saint-Domingue to abolish slavery after the slave revolt in Haiti.