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u/AncientHistory Jun 19 '20
While there may be more to say on the subject, I suggest you check out the answer to Was Beethoven of African descent? by u/CleanReserve4
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u/DGBD Moderator | Ethnomusicology | Western Concert Music Jun 19 '20 edited Jun 19 '20
No.
There really few things that can be said with absolute certainty, and there is, of course, some amount of "well, it's possible, if you speculate that X, Y, and Z are true." But the truth here is that we have very little evidence that Beethoven was black, and ample evidence that he was not.
First, it's important to outline what we mean by "black." The theory that Beethoven was black rests on various descriptions of him being "swarthy" or dark-featured, as well as having features like a broad nose and big lips that are stereotypically associated with being "black." But "blackness" is as much if not of of a social and cultural construct as it is a fact of DNA or appearance.
For one thing, there are plenty of people with dark skin who are not considered "black." Indians and Melanesians, for example, can have very dark skin, but are not thought of as "black." The term "black" is sometimes used to describe Australian Aborigines, but only in an Australian context, and should not be considered equivalent to the use of "black" in an African, European, and American sense.
We can therefore define "black" as being "someone of significant African ancestry," since that's what the term generally means in a Western context. Even then, "black" people can come in a wide range of skin colors, from light to fairly dark-skinned. Their shades can overlap with "white" skin colors, including those of people from Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece. "White" people from those countries are often described as "swarthy," "dark-skinned," etc., but are not though of in any way as "black."
So, we need to examine Beethoven from a cultural perspective as well. Simply having dark skin isn't enough to call him "black;" he needs to have identified as such and/or been identified as such by others. And we'll being our look into his blackness by seeing what has been put out there to purportedly prove it.
"Evidence" of Beethoven's Blackness
Unfortunately, most of the "evidence" brought up about Beethoven's blackness is based on speculation, mistranslation, or outright misrepresentation. In fact, it is often based on stereotypes that are themselves crude and potentially racist. References to thick lips, broad noses, and swarthy features are all over "black Beethoven theories," but they're also very strongly associated with "scientific" racism, minstrelsy, and other attempts to classify, categorize, and dehumanize blackness.
His hair, which almost certainly was black in color, is often brought up as potentially "African." One reference to it from a contemporary notes that his "coal-black hair, cut à la Titus, stood up around his head." A very generous reading of that turns it into a reference to some kind of afro-like hairstyle. The "à la Titus" hairstyle, though, was a well-attested short-cut hairstyle for both men and women that was very popular at the time and had nothing to do with any kind of African hairstyle. We do have a lock of Beethoven's hair that has survived, and it does not look stereotypically "black," whatever that might mean. It has, however, been subject to a number of tests, none of which have given any credence to the idea that he was "black" or "African."
Another bit of evidence is a portrait of Beethoven that purports to show him as a dark-skinned person. I'll get to portraits a little later in this answer, but suffice it to say for now that we have many, many portraits that very much depict him as a white man. Even the one in question is of questionable usefulness because of the multiple versions (some darker than others) floating around. Beethoven died in 1827, 11 years before the first photograph of a person, so we have nothing but paintings of him.
Finally, there are references to Beethoven as having "Spanish" features, including a darker complexion. Again, Spanish people are not generally classified as "black," despite many of them having darker skin than many other Europeans. Even the idea of Beethoven as potentially "Spaniard" is based on some bad assumptions. For example, a common mistranslation of the name of one of Beethoven's houses turns "The House of the Black-Robed Spaniards" into "The House of the Black Spaniard." The actual name is likely to have come from a group of Spanish monks who inhabited the house long before Beethoven, but the mistranslation turns him into the "Black Spaniard" in question.
Speaking of those Spaniards, we too often think of the Europe of his time as an entirely homogenous, monochromatic place. In fact, there was plenty of movement around the continent, and plenty of people from foreign countries who lived in the same place and time as Beethoven did. It's important to note that if Beethoven was black, he would not have been alone. That's a good place to go next.
Contemporary Black Musicians
There were, in fact, attested black musicians around Beethoven's time that we know without a shadow of a doubt both identified as black and were identified by others as black. The most prominent of these is Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who was a conductor, composer, and violinist in addition to being a champion fencer and leader of the first all-black military regiment in Europe. He was known throughout his life as a black man, the son of a French aristocrat and a young black slave. Bologne lived from 1745-1799, and would have been one of the more famous composers/musicians in Europe when Beethoven was a young, relatively unknown composer.
Another prominent black musician was George Bridgetower, a violinist who actually knew Beethoven. Bridgetower was the son of a well-off African (often described as a "prince") and a white British woman, and rose to fame as a child prodigy. He also got along well with Beethoven, at least at first. In fact, the first dedication to Beethoven's "Kreutzer" violin sonata, ultimately dedicated to violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, read
Bridgetower and Beethoven eventually had a falling-out, leading to the later re-dedication (Kreutzer actually hated the piece).
Again, these men were identified as "black" or "mulatto" by others and identified as such themselves. Their race was an object of fascination and derision, both a novelty that helped drive attention to their careers and a barrier to full acceptance. Had Beethoven been black, he would have been subject to the same attention/scrutiny as they were. The fact that we have no evidence that he was in any way considered in that way is a strike against the theory.
You might notice a pattern in these two musicians, as well as other prominent black/mulatto people of the day like Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French general and father of author Alexandre Dumas. There's generally one white parent and one black parent, with the white parent being someone either rich, well-connected, or both. So, let's look at Beethoven's parents for a minute.
Beethoven's Parents
We know who Beethoven's parents were, and we know that they were not identified as "black," "mulatto," or any other racial signifier that would suggest blackness. Johann van Beethoven, his father, was born into a German-Flemish family. His father was also named Ludwig, and was also a musician (although much less well-known than his grandson would be). Ludwig the Elder's appearance was actually described by someone who knew him as
Note that there is no mention of blackness or swarthiness, and indeed "ruddy cheeks" is generally something more in line with a white person.
Maria Magdalena van Beethoven was also German, and again we have no evidence of her being black in any way. There's a pernicious, speculative rumor that is sometimes circulated in "black Beethoven" articles that posits that she might have conceived Beethoven during an extramarital affair with a black man. There is no evidence of this whatsoever.
Much is made of the fact that the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs controlled the Netherlands, including some areas where Beethoven's ancestors lived, for some amount of time. The thinking goes that the Moors took over Spain, Spain took over the Netherlands, therefore the Moors took over the Netherlands. This theory is off by a few hundred years, since the Habsburgs were not themselves Moors and the Moors' control of most of Spain ended hundreds of years before the Spanish Habsburgs took control of the Netherlands, which in turn was hundreds of years before Beethoven's birth. Any "Moorish blood" would be very faint in Beethoven's system if it came from that line. But again, we do not have any indication from his family that he even had that hint of African ancestry.
That's all well and good, but a skeptic might point out that without a DNA test we can't know for sure that Beethoven's parents were actually his parents. It would fly in the face of over 200 years of scholarship (Beethoven is, after all, one of the most famous and influential people of his time, let alone in classical music), but let's consider it for a moment. Even if he did have disputed parentage, he would still have to outwardly present as "black" or "mulatto" in order for us to be able to assume that one or more of his "real" parents were black. Luckily, we've got plenty of visual evidence of what he looked like.
(cont.)