Over the weekend, Prince Albert II of Monaco led the commemorations of the life and legacy of Joséphine Baker, the celebrated performer and activist who became a close friend of Princess Grace after moving to the Principality in her later years, on the 50th anniversary of her passing.
On 12th April, 50 years after her death at the age of 68, Prince Albert visited the Monaco Cemetery to honour this incredible artist and activist. Following moving renditions of the American, French and Monegasque anthems – Baker was born in Missouri but found fame in Paris in the 1920s – by the Prince’s Carabinieri Orchestra, Prince Albert laid a wreath on her grave before the musical tributes continued with a performance of several of Baker’s songs by soprano Nathalie Nicaud.
“A bold and committed figure, Joséphine Baker found in Monaco a refuge and unwavering support from Princess Grace. It was here that she spent her final years before passing away in 1975,” reads a statement published by the Palais Princier de Monaco. “Today, the Principality honours her memory and celebrates her legacy — that of a free and universal woman whose message of fraternity still resonates.”
Baker was born in St. Louis in 1906 but later moved to France as her career as a singer, dancer and actress progressed. Paris became her stage in the 1920s, where she was beloved for her charismatic stage presence and unique performances – her iconic banana skirt dance at the Folies Bergère is legendary.
She became a resistance fighter during World War II, helping gather intelligence and transport messages for the French Resistance. By the 1950s and 60s, she had become a leading voice in the US civil rights movement, speaking alongside Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington.
In her later years, she moved to Monaco, where she found a new home, a new purpose and a close friendship with Princess Grace, the late mother of Prince Albert. When she passed away at the age of 68, she was buried in the Monaco Cemetery.
Monaco has paid numerous tributes to this great woman over the years, and there is currently an exhibition at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Monte-Carlo, called The Josephines, that takes a fresh look at her legacy through the eyes of renowned sculptor and poet Barbara Chase-Riboud.
To see more photographs from the ceremony, click on the images below:
Read related:
Movement and legacy: Barbara Chase-Riboud’s tribute to Josephine Baker in Monaco
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Photos credit: Michaël Alesi / Palais Princier de Monaco