The real story behind the twists of "Knight"

The historical drama "Chevalier" takes viewers to the French royal court of the 1700s, where a young man (the main character) rises from obscurity to become an internationally renowned musician and composer. The true story of the man known as the "Knight" is even more awe-inspiring than the movies can imagine, however.

The Knight's full name and title was Joseph Bologne, Knight of St. George. Born in 1745, he was the son of Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges, a wealthy, married plantation owner in the French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe (now an overseas department of France), and d a Senegalese slave named Nanon, who was probably around 16 when her son was born.

St. George acknowledged the existence of Joseph and his relationship to him. From the age of eight, Joseph was taken to France to be educated in a Jesuit school, and his parents joined him in France a few years later. By the time he was a teenager, Joseph quickly rose to prominence as a skilled fencer. Soon his accomplishments were so great that he caught the attention of King Louis XV, who appointed him an officer of the royal guards and a knight – hence his best-known nickname, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Years later, he continued to highlight his fighting skills by fighting in the French Revolution (in the service of the First Republic).

His fencing prowess, however, would not be his only claim to fame. At the age of twenty, Joseph burst onto the music scene as a violin prodigy and composer, historically unaware of how he received his musical training. He gained great renown for his concertos and performances, notably with a new symphony orchestra called Les Concerts des Amateurs; he became the orchestra's conductor in 1773 and led it to great success. He was a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn, among other great names in classical music. During his musical career, he was also commissioned by theaters to write operas and was invited to perform in the salons of the wealthy elite.

The real Knight was a mixed-race black, the son of a white plantation owner and a black slave. As a result, despite his talent, fame and fame, he faced many obstacles in his career and life. In 1776,