Joséphine Baker: A star in Monaco
On the sidelines of the match against Strasbourg, AS Monaco honored the memory of Joséphine Baker who will be the sixth woman to enter the Pantheon. This quite exceptional artist has a special bond with the Principality.
It would be presumptuous to summarize the life of Josephine Baker in just one small article, already several books are devoted to her story. Because there is a link with the Principality, and even AS Monaco, a look back at current events and history with a capital H from a shooting star from the Roaring Twenties.
Son country, the United States?
It is not a question of praising this personality, like each and every one, it has its dark side; in short, an artist’s life. Real name, Freda Josephine McDonald, she lives in extreme poverty and “works” in wealthy families in Missouri. She gets married at… 13 years old. At 16, she left her second husband to live her dream: to break into Broadway. As she begins to rise in this environment, she meets an encounter that will definitely change her life: Caroline Dudley Reagan. The latter offers him to follow in Paris. The opportunity is too good, especially since the dancer can no longer support the deleterious climate in her native country.
The ” negro review »Says a cardboard box. France, and more still, is in the midst of negrophilia. In Europe and even in the world, it is a real whirlwind. Singer, magazine leader, actress, street actress, dancer, musician, model, the star has many hats. But the story does not end there. An early activist, taking advantage of her growing popularity, she was even a privileged actress of the resistance during the Second World War. The image of a practically naked woman alongside a cheetah may be the one that some keep in mind in her career, yet there are others just as striking. “I have a dream”, does that mean anything to you? That day, the only woman to speak was Josephine Boulanger, in French army uniform with its decorations.
And the Principality in all of this?
But the fairy tale is going to pause. After a visit to the Château des Milandes, now a museum that I advise you to visit, a new separation will seal the fate, financial, of the artist. Despite the selfless help of Brigitte Bardot, who did not even know Joséphine Baker, the star is ruined and homeless. A shame for a woman who was known for her generosity. Not to mention that after serious health problems preventing her from having a child, she had since adopted 12 toddlers, of all origins, whom she called her “rainbow tribe”.
While she became the first black woman to enter the Pantheon, her body will remain in the Principality. Why this attachment? Some dates… Fr 1951, even before she was Princess, Grace Kelly met Josephine Baker who caused a lasting scandal, in New York, in a restaurant which refused to serve because of her skin color. After the forced sale of his castle, fr 1969, Grace Kelly, who is now Princess of Monaco, “advances” the funds to him to acquire a house in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Fr 1975, to celebrate her 50 years of career, she triumphs in the show ” Joséphine à Bobino ”. On April 9, the curtain fell, on the morning of April 10, she suffered a stroke. On April 12, she leaves this world with Grace Kelly at her bedside.
The second woman to have the honor of a state funeral after Colette (who would have been her lover by the way), Josephine Baker was a woman of all battles. AS Monaco welcomed, on November 28, part of his family, to honor him before this entry into the Pantheon, and in particular Bastien (U7) and Anthony (U12), his great-grandsons who play at the club.
Source: asmonaco.com / Photo : Pixabay