On November 30, civil rights activist Josephine Baker made history after becoming the first Black woman inducted into France’s Pantheon.
According to Deadline, Baker also made history as the sixth woman to be bestowed such an honor.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was at the head of the ceremony and called the late pioneer was a “war hero, fighter, dancer, singer” that “firstly [defended] humans. American and French.”
Baker’s body and her coffin, which contains “handfuls of earth from four places she lived,” were taken into a tomb in a symbolic laying to rest and are set to remain in Monaco at her family’s request.
The implementation of any person, including Baker, into the crypt of the Pantheon requires a parliamentary act and the title of a national hero. Simone Veil, Emile Zola, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, and Louis Braille are some historic individuals buried in the monument.
Baker was initially born in Missouri in 1906 and starred in various New York shows at the early age of 15 during what was only the beginning of her very successful career. At 19, she decided to move to France, which later became her home country.
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Soon after she arrived in Paris, she rose to stardom. Baker became a renowned dancer and one of Europe’s most popular and highest-paid performers. A few years later, Baker sang professionally, and after some time, she starred in films Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam as a singer.
Baker was a significant influence during the 50s’ and 60s civil rights movement after she worked for the French Resistance during World War II and dedicated her life to fighting segregation and racism in the United States.
She refused to perform for segregated concerts in the U.S. and was a speaker at the 1963 March on Washington. The entertainer was even asked to be the leader of the movement in place of Martin Luther King Jr.’s following his tragic death.
After a long and memorable life, Baker died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1975.
Baker’s personal and professional life still lives on as many entertainers like Beyoncé and Diana Ross have portrayed her years later.
