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Paul Robeson | |
|---|---|
 Paul Robeson | |
| Born | April 9, 1898 Princeton, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | January 23, 1976 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
Paul Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was a Statesian singer, actor, lawyer, and political activist. The U.S. government suspended his passport in 1949 for his support of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. His passport was later reinstated in 1958, but he was prevented from traveling to any socialist countries.[1][2]
Early Life
Paul Leroy Bustill Robeson was born on April 9,1898 in Princeton, New Jersey. His parents were a formerly enslaved Presbyterian preacher William Drew Robeson and Mary Louise Bastille. He was the youngest of 5 children.[3]
He excelled in a variety of academic and athletic fields in his youth. In 1915 he won a national academic competition for a scholarship to Rutgers College.
Education
After receiving his scholarship in 1915 Robeson attended Rutgers university. He was the third black student to attend the university in its history. [4]
He had an outstanding, though short, athletic career at Rutgers College. He earned 15 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track as well as a two time All American in football and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.[4]
While attending Rutgers Robeson was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society, a liberal arts and sciences society and the Rutgers' Cap and Skull Honor Society. He was also a member of the Rutgers Intercollegiate Debating Association. Despite his later internationally renowned talent he was not allowed to become a member of the Rutgers choir due to his race.[3][4]
He graduated in 1919 as the valedictorian of his graduating class.[4]
He went on to study law at Colombia University and graduated in 1923. While attending Colombia he met his future wife Eslanda Goode, they married in 1921.[3]
Early Career
After briefly working at a law office he began a career in singing and acting. In April 1921 he played a lead role in the play Taboo and was in several other plays on Broadway and in London. In 1924 he played the title role in Wings Are Given to All Children of Men, and The Emperor Jones, two of several Eugene O'Neill productions he played in. He recorded his first song in 1925 and went on a musical tour in Europe. His recording of the song Ol' Man River from the musical Showboat in 1928 became famous worldwide.[3]
Communism and International Career
In 1929, while in London performing in the musical Showboat, Robeson encountered a group of Welsh miners on a protest march. He joined their march and after it was over payed for their train ride back to Wales, giving them food and clothing as well.[5]
In 1930 Robeson traveled to London again to play the title role in Shakesperes Othello. There in 1934 he attended the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, majoring in Swahili.[3]
Later in 1934 he travelled to the Soviet Union as part of a project by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein to portray the Haitian Revolution in a movie called Black Majesty. The visit to the Soviet Union had a great impact on Robeson. In an interview there he stated:[3]
I already regard myself at home here. This is home to me. I feel more kinship to the Russian people under their new society than I ever felt anywhere else. It is obvious that there is no terror here, that all the masses of every race are contented and support their government."[3]
After the beginning of the Spanish Civil War Robeson began to support the Republican cause, raising funds for displaced children, advocating for assistance to the Republicans and in 1938 visiting Spain. After the war Robeson was declared an honorary member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.[6]
Around this time he also advocated against the Fascist governments in Italy and Germany and sand at benefits for Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.[7]
References
- ↑ Gao Yunxiang. "Why the People’s Republic of China embraced Paul Robeson" Friends of Socialist China. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
- ↑ HAROLD D. WEAVER JR (2021-06-19). "Paul Robeson Was One of the Greatest Figures of the 20th Century" Jacobin.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Mario Kessler (2022-09-04). "Paul Robeson: The Left’s Tragic Hero" Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "About Paul Robeson". Rutgers New Brunswick.
- ↑ Jeff Sparrow (2017-07-02). "How Paul Robeson found his political voice in the Welsh valleys" The Guardian.
- ↑ "Robeson in Spain". Zinn Education Project.
- ↑ "Who was Paul Robeson". ¡Alba!.