Verbose
Deity
I actually wanted to post something in the thread about Beethoven's blackness, or not... But the moderator intervened.
I have no idea if old Ludwig van had some African ancestry or not. I wouldn't rule it out, though I assume it would have to be an African grandparent or possibly parent.
The reason:
There are at least two figures in European litterature who had a black grandparent.
Count Alexander Pushkin, the father or modern Russian poetry. His maternal grandfather was from Africa. Pushkin even wrote a story about him and seems to have been proud of the fact. And face it, he could afford it, since no matter what HE was still Count Pushkin, damn your eyes!
The other is Alexandre Dumas, Sr., you know, the inventor of The Three Musketeers.
He had a black grandmother and actually did take som flack occasionally for being a "mulatto". He sometimes reffered to himself jokingly in letters to friends as a "useless mulatto".
And he did write an early novel in his youth with a black protagonist (Edward). Of course, the whole story was an exercise in showing that this characters qualities had absolutely nothing to do with pigmentation.
So, there are at least two well respected figures of litterature (well, one at least ) with good credentials showing us that they had part African ancestry. There must have been nore of them around, especially in places like Portugal, Spain and Italy.
I have no idea if old Ludwig van had some African ancestry or not. I wouldn't rule it out, though I assume it would have to be an African grandparent or possibly parent.
The reason:
There are at least two figures in European litterature who had a black grandparent.
Count Alexander Pushkin, the father or modern Russian poetry. His maternal grandfather was from Africa. Pushkin even wrote a story about him and seems to have been proud of the fact. And face it, he could afford it, since no matter what HE was still Count Pushkin, damn your eyes!
The other is Alexandre Dumas, Sr., you know, the inventor of The Three Musketeers.
He had a black grandmother and actually did take som flack occasionally for being a "mulatto". He sometimes reffered to himself jokingly in letters to friends as a "useless mulatto".
And he did write an early novel in his youth with a black protagonist (Edward). Of course, the whole story was an exercise in showing that this characters qualities had absolutely nothing to do with pigmentation.
So, there are at least two well respected figures of litterature (well, one at least ) with good credentials showing us that they had part African ancestry. There must have been nore of them around, especially in places like Portugal, Spain and Italy.