Josephine Baker - Chateau des Milandes
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker , whose real name was Freda Josephine McDonald, was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1906. She was an African American with Apalachee/Native American roots as well. Josephine became a dancer as a teenager, leaving home at 13 and heading towards New York during the Harlem Renaissance. She quickly become favoured by the artists and jazz musicians of that time. On October 2, 1925 she played at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, where she was an instant hit with her erotic dancing and famous banana skirt. She toured Europe and returned to Paris to play at the Folies Bergère and where she was often accompanied on stage by a leopard.
In addition to her stage show she starred in several films including Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tamtam 1935), had a hit song "J'ai deux amours" (1931) and became a model for various painters and sculptors including Pablo Picasso.
She was so well-loved in France that during the Nazi occupation of Paris the Nazis were hesitant to touch her and she used this to aid the Resistance movement. She once carried military intelligence reports out of France to Portugal, written in invisible ink on her sheet music. She used her charm to persuade foreign consulates to process visas for associates, who sometimes travelled with her for cover. She also used the Chateau les Milandes to hide people from the Nazis. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her underground work.
Whilst she was based in France she supported the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and hosted anti-racism conferences. Josephine adopted twelve children of different races - 'her Rainbow Tribe' - and lived with them all in Chateau les Milandes. On tours of the United States Josephine refused to perform in segregated nightclubs.
Unfortunately she fell into debt and was forced to sell Les Milandes in 1964. She was given an apartment by her close friend Princess Grace of Monaco. In 1975 she was the star of a retrospective show in Paris which had rave reviews but unfortunately she died of a cerebral haemorrhage less than a week later at the age of 68.
Josephine Baker is still held in very high esteem in France.
