Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976

Born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 9, 1898, Paul Robeson was a multitalented man whose artistic and political career spanned over four decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Known worldwide during the 1930s and 1940s, he fell from prominence in the 1960s because of the political controversy that surrounded him during the McCarthy era.

Robeson was a talented dramatic actor whose performance of Othello in this country in 1943-44 once held the record for the longest running show on Broadway. He was the first professional concert singer in history to use Negro spirituals as his unique vehicle. He broadened his repertoire in the 1940s, however, to incorporate folk songs from other countries -- Chinese, Russian, Welsh, Jewish, among others -- in order to illustrate the linguistic, artistic and human unity among different cultures. Robeson was a linguist who studied over twenty languages.

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