On January 15, 2009 AfriClassical posted “Biographer Pierre Bardin Discovers Death Report of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)” Daniel Marciano is a Professor Emeritus at l'Université de Franche-Comté at Besançon, France. Prof. Marciano kindly translated the death report and the accompanying remarks of Pierre Bardin. He is an author of an historical novel and plays, and maintains a website on Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges in French. At the invitation of Jean-Claude Halley of the blog Guadeloupe Attitude, Daniel Marciano gives his opinion of the historical significance of the discovery:
“J.C. Halley invited me to react to P. Bardin’s latest discovery and among other things I wrote: When dealing with fiction, turning a character into a victim on purpose is a dramatic process in order that the reader may feel sorry for such a beautiful soul, alone at the end of his life, forgotten by all after his death. However, biographical rigor forbids one to state anything which was not corroborated by reliable archive documents.
Personally I pitied St-G in my novel as I was working towards a movie but most biographers put a wrong emphasis on St-G suffering from discrimination, unable to found a family, giving the impression at times that his life was a constant ordeal. In fact on the whole he led an enviable life, conducted the best orchestras of the XVIIIth century, was admired by the ladies of the court and was the friend of Kings and Princes. I inserted a long comment on this point in my web site called Victimisation et Oubli [Victimized and Forgotten]. The last document P. Bardin discovered is precious inasmuch as his discovery shows that the most eminent representatives of the fencing community admired him, and grieved for St-G’s death. People were close to him when he died.”
Daniel MarcianoJean-Claude Halley
Pierre Bardin
Le chevalier de Saint-George
le fils de Noémie
Cet article paru sur le site de Bill ZICK au USA n'est pas étonnant.
ReplyDeleteIl rappelle l'attitude constante de Daniel MARCIANO pour valoriser le Chevalier de Saint-Georges tout en demeurant rigoureux sur le fait historique.
Je me souviens encore avec émotion des premiers échanges entre Besançon et la Guadeloupe et des mots très précieux écrits par Daniel.
Ensuite le déroulement des choses, les trouvailles des chercheurs prouvèrent les qualités rares de cet adepte du Chevalier.
Daniel collabora avec spontanéité et efficacité au petit livre pour enfants publié par la Guadeloupe et répondit toujours positivement à toutes les sollicitations.
Jean-Claude HALLEY