FRANCE HAILS BAKER
Singer, civil rights activist is 1st Black woman in Panthéon
The iconic entertainer and civil rights pioneer Josephine Baker is still making history.
Baker, who became an international sensation as a head-turning performer in the Paris cabaret music hall scene during the 1920s, on Tuesday became the first Black woman and one of the few foreign-born figures inducted into France’s Panthéon.
Once regarded as the toast of Paris, Baker was honored with a plaque at the mausoleum of revered historical figures.
She is only the sixth woman to be immortalized, joining the likes of Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire.
The honor traditionally bestowed on the greatest French achievers in Arts, Letters, and Science was posthumously awarded to the St. Louis native at an elaborate ceremony presided over by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Josephine Baker, you are entering into the Panthéon because, [despite] born
American, there is no greater French [woman] than you,” Macron said.
In earning France’s highest honor, Baker — who died at age 68 in 1975 — was recognized for her legacy as a resistance fighter, activist and anti-fascist who traded in the racial segregation of America for the Paris cabaret stage.
Macron also took to Twitter to share a video celebrating Baker’s life, noting she had “all the courage, all the boldness, she’s quite synthetic of what it means to be French.”
The political leader heralded her “absolute freedom,” declaring her “quite inspiring.”
Outside of the hallowed monument, projections were erected to recall monumental moments from Baker’s life, which the Élysée Palace called “incredible”, describing her as an exceptional figure who embodied the French spirit.
During the sold-out event — which included a military orchestra, the national anthem, and a children’s choir singing songs Baker popularized — members of the French Air Force carried a French flag-covered cenotaph containing handfuls of soil from four places where Baker resided: her native St. Louis; Paris, where she launched her career and became the highest-paid performer of her time; the Château des Milandes, her home in southwest France; and her final resting place of Monaco.
The coffin was placed in the tomb reserved for her in the Panthéon’s crypt.
The Nov. 30 date of her interment also holds significance, commemorating the anniversary of when she received French citizenship in 1937.
Baker went on to campaign for civil rights with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington.
She also famously adopted 12 children from different countries, one of whom opened a popular restaurant, Chez Josephine, at 414 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan, in her honor.
Nine of her children attended the event Tuesday.
“Mum would have been very happy,” Akio Bouillon, Baker’s son, said after the ceremony. “Mum would not have accepted to enter into the Panthéon if that was not as the symbol of all the forgotten people of history, the minorities.”
In pop culture, Baker is famously known for her status as an early sex symbol. Dubbed “Black Venus,” she and her banana costume became historic. In film, she is recognized as the first Black woman to star in a motion picture, the 1927 silent film “Siren of the Tropics.”
And although she is often incorrectly associated with popularizing Édith Piaf’s legendary torch song, “La Vie En Rose,” Baker’s most famous song is “J’ai Deux Amours,” which translates to “I Have Two Loves: My Country and Paris.”
In 1991, Lynn Whitfield won the outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or a special Emmy Award for the acclaimed HBO biopic “The Josephine Baker Story.”
“I loved Josephine Baker because she was so glamorous and just had me in awe,” the actress said in an interview last year.
“Josephine Baker can be considered to be the first Black superstar,” said Rosemary Phillips, a Barbados-born performer and co-owner of Baker’s park in southwestern France. “She’s like the Rihanna of the 1920s.”