LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

[Written by: Gabriel Scott]

Ludwig Van Beethoven is arguably the most famous and well known classical musician and composer of all time, but his true identity has been falsified and obscure for many, many years. Society has depicted him as a Caucasian male with either blonde or brunette colored hair, being shown in drawings, paintings, magazines, television and cartoons all over the world. In reality, Beethoven was labeled as a “Mulatto”, "Black-a-Moor" or “Black Spaniard”. Mulatto was used often to describe someone who was half Negro and half Caucasian. In society, with the Negro gene being the most dominant, he was referred to as a Negro often by his friends and people that he associated with. It is said that either his father, Johann or his mother, Maria, was a “Moor”. The term “Moor” referred to someone who was of African descent or Negro, initially referencing African Muslims. This is what some of Ludwig Van Beethoven's friends, contemporaries and biographers said about him.

Frau Fischer ~ "Beethoven had black-frizzy, woolly hair, black-brownish complexion, thick lips, wide nose."

Carl Czerny ~ "Beethoven had coal black hair. Had not shaved for days. Made the lower part of his already "brown" face even darker."

Franz Grillparzer ~ Beethoven was "dark"

Bettina Von Arnim ~ Beethoven was "brown"

Rellstab ~ Beethoven was "brownish"

Gelinek ~ Beethoven was "short, ugly and dark"

May Byron ~ Beethoven was "swarthy". Swarthy is an Anglo-Saxon term for "Black"

According to J.A. Rogers in Sex & Race; Vol 3, "there's not a single shred of evidence to support the belief that Beethoven was a White man neither from those who knew him nor from his biographers."

Other sources: Race & Civilization by Friedrich Hertz

100 Amazing Facts About the Negro; with Complete Proof by

Joel Augustus Rogers

Beethoven: Impressions of Contemporaries by G. Schirmer Inc. &

edited by Oscar Sonneck