The following are short descriptions of the women and men who have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Historians have documented the arrival of black people in Britain as members of the Roman Army. The first reference to a black African in Britain in the historical record is at a Roman military settlement at Carlisle, in ca. 210 AD. Shortly after, in the … Read MoreJohn Blanke (16th Century)
Ignatius Sancho was an African composer and author who grew up as a house slave in England. We do not know how Sancho left domestic servitude but according to historians by the time he was an adult he was an emancipated employee of the Duke … Read MoreIgnatius Sancho (1729-1780)
In 1925, Josephine Baker took Paris, France by storm, appearing on stage in “La Revue Negre” wearing nothing but a skirt of artificial bananas in Danse Sauvage. Born Josephine Freda MacDonald in St. Louis, Missouri on June 3, 1906, she was nicknamed “Tumpy” because she … Read MoreJosephine Baker (1906-1975)
Eighteenth and nineteenth century classical violinist George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower is perhaps now best remembered for his association with Ludwig von Beethoven, who composed his Kreutzer Sonata for the young Afro-European musician, and personally performed the sonata for violin and piano with Bridgetower. A copy … Read MoreGeorge Bridgetower (1780-1860)
Michaelle Jean, the Governor General of Canada, was born in Port au Prince, Haiti in 1957. At an early age Jean and her family fled the Papa Doc Duvalier dictatorship and settled in Montreal, Canada. Jean later attended the University of Montreal where she received … Read MoreMichaelle Jean (1957- )
José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was an Afro-Brazilian composer and organist who was the grandson of slaves. Over 240 works of music by Garcia have survived. Garcia’s mother was Vitória Maria da Cruz and his father was Apolinário Nunes Garcia, a tailor. Garcia was born … Read MoreJosé Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830)
Joseph de Bologne was born December 25, 1745 on a plantation near Basse-Terre, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. His mother was Anne Nanon, slave-mistress of his father, the nobleman George de Bologne de Saint-Georges. He was educated in France, where his father became … Read MoreJoseph de Bolonge/Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
Oscar Peterson was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in Place St-Henri, a bustling Montreal district with a small but close knit black community. Considered by many to be one of the great jazz piano players of all time, Peterson … Read MoreOscar Emmanuel Peterson (1925-2007)
Sold into Turkish slavery, Abram Petrovich Hannibal was brought as a black servant to Czar Peter I, known as Peter the Great. He became one of the royal favorites, a general-in-chief, and one of the best educated men in Russia in his era. His great-grandson … Read MoreAbram Petrovich Hannibal (1696?-1781)
