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Black Contributors To World History

Aesop

There is some controversy about Aesop's race and origins, but it is widely held that Aesop was a black slave in ancient Greece. According to That Book, Aesop's name is a contraction of Ethiop - denoting an Ethiopean who were black. Below is a quote from the back page of a book of Aesop's fables. The etching in the front of the book depicts a black man in ancient Greek garb, writing in a scroll:

"Aesop (16th century BC), is believed to have been a Greek slave on the island of Samos and, according to Herodotus and other classical writers, he was killed by the people of Delphi, who threw him off a rock after he had committed some grave offence against them. Legend has it that he was misshapen, ugly and spoke with a stammer, but his storytelling was famed for its wit, and his ability to teach lessons in morality through story has made his name synonymous with the genre of 'fable'. None of the stories attributed to him existed in written versions until about 300 BC, and fables have been added through the centuries to the collections appearing under his name, so it is impossible to know how many of the tales in this book were told originally by the man himself - whoever he was!"

-"Aesop Fables" Everyman's Library Children's Classics, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1906.-

Aesop visited Delphi which had a worlwide reputation as a center of "piety, learning, and wisdom." Aesop was so disappointed at what he actually saw there that he said to his friends:

"I find (says he) the Curiosity that brought me hither, to be much the Case of People at the Sea-side [From the fable - Travellers by the Sea Side - Ed.], that see something come hulling towards them a great way off at Sea, and take it at first to be some mighty Matter, but upon driving nearer and nearer the Shore, it proves at last to be only a heap of Weeds and Rubbish."

This was the "grave offence" that some historians so vaguely attribute to Aesop. The authorities of Delphi decided that Aesop would not leave alive since his words would ruin Delphi's tourist trade - their major source of income. Aesop was accused of stealing a sacred cup (taken from the Temple for this purpose), which had been planted in his luggage. Aesop was captured by soldiers just outside of Delphi and, of course, the cup was found in his possession. He pleaded with the Court of Delphi, but his fables and wit were no match for the Delphians' desire to protect their reputations at this man's expense. When it was clear to Aesop that he was to be condemned to die, he warned them that "You are not to flatter yourselves that the Prophaners of holy Altars and the Oppressors of the Innocent, shall ever escape divine Vengeance." As a parting shot Aesop fired off one last fable:

"There was a old Fellow (says he) that had spent his whole Life in the Country without ever seeing the Town; he found himself weak and decaying, and nothing would serve, but his Friends must needs shew him the Town once before he died. Their Asses were very well acquainted with the Way, and so they caused them to be made ready, and turned the old Man and Asses loose, without a Guide, to try their Fortune. They were overtaken upon the Road by a terrible Tempest, so that what with the Darkness, and the Violence of the Storm, the Asses were beaten out of the Way, and tumbled with the old Man into a Pit, where he had only time to deliver his last Breath with this Exclamation. Miserable Wretch that I am, to be destroy'd, since die I must, by the basest of Beasts, by Asses."

-IBID pps. 43-45-

The Delphians threw Aesop headlong from the cliff to his death. They faced universal condemnation for their violence against the beloved Aesop. Poverty, famine, and disease soon followed. In desperation, they consulted the Oracle of Apollo and were told to erect a pyramid in Aesop's honor. When people came to view the pyramid they learned the truth of Aesop's demise - and learned also that those who conspired against him also brought destruction to themselves. According to That Book, coins were found at the Delphi site which bear the likeness of a black man. Coin collectors and historians agree that these Delphian coins were stamped with the image of Aesop himself.

Maybe if he'd had a good team of lawyers...

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Robert Browning

There is one well known poet who is claimed to have Negro roots:Robert Browning (1812-1889).Fredrick J. Furnivall head of the Browning Society of London, said that hewas certain that Robert Browning had a Negro strain. He says, "In colour,the poet's father was so dark that when, as a youth, he went to his creolemother's sugar plantation in St. Kit's the beadle of the church ordered him to come away from the white foke among whom he was sitting and take his place among the colored people."Browning's grandmother, Margaret Tittle, was a native of Jamaica, West Indies.See Browning Society Papers, February 28, 1890, pp. 31-36 for further comments.

Contributed by Harold: hcon@primenet.com

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Alexandre Dumas

Around 1748, a black girl, Marie-Cessette Dumas was purchased in Haiti by a rather mysterious heir named Alexandre-Antoine. Her surname, Dumas, was likely the name of her or her father's previous owner "some hard-faced French colonist who could never have dreamed that it would be through this despised piece of chattel-flesh that his name would be perpetuated and achieve world-wide fame in the following century." Marie-Cessette bore many children, a son, Adolphe, two girls - Jeannette and Marie-Rose, and finally on March 25th, 1762 a boy, named Thomas-Alexandre was born. Thomas-Alexandre was the father of Alexandre Dumas.

Alexandre Dumas wrote "Les Trois Mousquetaires" (The Three Musketeers), "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo" (The Count of Monte-Cristo), "Camille" [A correction: "Camille was written by his illegitimate son, also named Alexandre. His is also an interesting history. My thanks to Frank Jellison and his source -- "Dumas, Alexandre (1824-95)," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation], "The Man in the Iron Mask", and many other books and short stories. He became the most popular writer in France. He became so famous and prolific that he won the malice of some critics. In F.W.J. Hemmings' biography of Dumas he writes:"The unique combination of imperturable affability and a barbed wit, which was Dumas's way of countering the malice of his rivals, could not altogether disarm them. To attack him for being the most widely read novelist in France would have been absurd, so they fell back on sneering at him for his supposed cupidity, and hinting darkly that he was engaged in unfair or at least unprofessional practices. As early as 1842, one malignant pamphleteer wrote that Dumas 'seems to have given himself up, body and soul, to the worship of the Golden Calf', and that it was 'materially impossible for him to write or dictate everything that appears under his name.'" The book continues a paragraph later with: "This allegation gained wide currency; Charles Hugo summed it up in a wicked aside: 'Everyone has read Dumas, but nobody has read everything of Dumas's, not even Dumas himself.'"

This sounds to me like the "sour grapes" from Aesop's fable "The Fox and the Grapes".

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Der Schwarze Teufel

Around 1797, Napolean sent one his best Generals against the Austrians in Vienna. This man was Thomas-Alexandre Dumas. Dumas was in the habit of charging ahead of his troops causing the enemy to flee in terror. He was already a legendary warrior and was known to the Austrians as the "Black Devil" or "der schwarze Teufel".

"On one occasion, being well mounted, and a long way ahead of the French vanguard, he was brought to a halt at a bridge from which all the planks had been removed. The Tyrolese, seeing the Black Devil all alone, rallied and directed their fire on him, hitting and killing his horse in the first burst. Dumas flung himself into a ditch, where he found a quantity of loaded muskets discarded by the panic-stricken soldiers. Posting himself behind a fir-tree, he opened a deadly fusillade, keeping the enemy at bay until his own men could rejoin him. Finally he rode into Brixen (Bressanone) on a captured Austrian horse and Dermoncourt, seeing him stagger into his quarters as pale as a ghost, thought he must be wounded. 'No,' replied Dumas, 'but I have killed so many, so many of them...' and he slumped on to the floor in a dead faint caused by extreme exhaustion. He had not eaten since six in the morning, had ridden and fought all day, and it was then four in the afternoon. His sabre was so chipped and warped that it protruded four inches out of the scabbard."

The source of this material is:- Alexandre Dumas, The King Of Romance; F.W.J. Hemmings, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 1979 -

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was the "Hofkapellmeister" of Bonn Germany, from the early 1700s until his death in 1773. He was a very successful as a master court musician all his life. His son, Johann Beethoven was a mediocre Court Tenor who was barely able to earn a living. Johann's addiction to alcohol compounded his family's poverty and instability. One of Johann's children, named for his beloved grandfather, was to become one of the world's best known musician/composers. The young Ludwig van Beethoven was never well-educated, but his knack for composition was seen as his family's ticket out of poverty. Around that time, another musical prodigy was on the rise - the infant, Amadeus Mozart was being hailed as a musical genius. Johann decided to duplicate this success with his own son. Johann pushed Ludwig mercilessly, teaching him violin and piano. Young Ludwig was forced to stand on a footstool practicing the clavier for hours on end with tears streaming down his face.
"Cäcilia Fischer, sister to the landlord, remembered him as 'a tiny boy, standing on a footstool in front of the clavier to which the implacable severity of his father has so early condemned him,' and Burgermeister Windeck, calling on the Fischers, also remembered him 'standing in front of the clavier and weeping.'"
But Ludwig was a natural talent and really didn't need to be pushed. He learned Latin at Tirocinium school, and learned Italian and French through operatic usage. Ludwig's musical schooling was also irregular. He irritated his father greatly with his tendency to improvise instead of following the rote notation. Ludwig was equally irritated that his natural genius was under the harsh, often drunken, tutellage of a lesser musician. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the unremitting study, young Ludwig could not reach the level of professional play. This failure came as a heavy blow to Johann and his treatment of his son became harsher even as his drinking increased.
"When Johann, with his judgement clouded by alcohol, mocked sarcastically at his pupil's first attempt to master a new position, the boy, not daring to retort, would glower in silence at the injustice and stupidity of the teacher he did not respect, who was covering his own incompetence with a show of overbearing authority."

OK, but was he black? Here are some descriptions of him by his contemporaries:

As a child: "Wurzer, a pupil at the Tirocinium, remembered Beethoven as 'distinguished by uncleanliness, negligence, etc.' Beethoven's brothers were the only companions with whom he occasionally roamed and played. He was an ungainly lad, short, but sturdy. He acquired the nickname of 'Der Spangol' ('Spagnol') on account of his swarthy [dark] complexion and mop of black hair. He was remembered as moody, seclusive, a dreamer."

As an adult: "The boy was not prepossessing to the eye, with his short stature, his coat and breeches of drab cloth, and his ruddy pockmarked features." "...His head of hair, black, shaggy and unconfined, was as a standing reproach to the slick sheen of a wig. A challenging solemnity in a boy of twenty-two sometimes raises a smile. In this one there was a smoldering intensity which commanded respect."

In later years: "Shouting in his ear she [Fanny Giannatosio] noticed that it was partly covered by his overgrown grayish hair. He apologized and said, 'I must have my hair cut.' It apeared at first glance that his hair was 'coarse and bristly, but it was very fine and when he put his hand through it it remained standing in all directions, which often looked comical.'"

It is well known that Beethoven suffered the loss of his hearing in his later years. It is less well known that during his training as a musician, Beethoven would often improvise instead of playing the music as it was written. His teacher's response to this was to box young Beethoven's ears and severely chastise him for straying from the written notes. I believe that the beatings he received in his youth contributed to his loss of hearing as an adult.
By way of anwser to Dr. Freidlander who was kind enough to include a reference to this page:
Frau Fischer, an intimate acquaintance of Beethoven, describes him thus, "Short, stocky, broad shoulders, short neck, round nose, blackish-brown complexion." (From r. H. Schauffler, The Man Who Freed Music, Vol. I, p. 18, 1929).
Thanks to AFROAM-L Archives for this entry.

Those are the stated facts. Draw your own conclusions.

- The Life and Work of Beethoven, John N. Burk, pub. The Modern Library, NY, 1943 -

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