Zamor

Zamor ( christened Louis-Benoît) (1762 Chittagong, Bengal – February 7, 1820, Paris, France) was a French revolutionary from Bengal, probably of Siddi ancestry (Indians of African descent), who as a boy at 11 was taken from Chittagong, Bengal Subah, Mughal Empire (now Bangladesh) by British slave traders. Later, he was gifted to Countess du Barry and became her servant until informing on her to the Committee of Public Safety. He participated in the French Revolution and was imprisoned by the Girondins.

Early life and upbringing

Zamor was born in 1762 at the town of Chittagong in the Principality of Bengal (now Bangladesh). He was captured by British slave traders, who trafficked him in 1766 into France probably via Portuguese and Spanish hands in Madagascar.

Some accounts report he was purchased by Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti; others cite Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu. No one knows if he was an unsolicited gift to King Louis XV of France or purchased on behalf of the king. Louis XV gifted the child to his mistress, Madame Jeanne du Barry, as her personal servant (page). The exact date of his arrival at the Royal Palace is unknown, but his likeness appears in a painting commemorating the inauguration of the Music Pavilion at the Château de Louveciennes in 1771.

He was christened Louis-Benoît in 1770. The countess developed a liking for the boy and educated him. Zamor developed a taste for literature and was inspired by the works of Rousseau.

Records of the period suggest that Zamor was extremely mischievous as a child. Madame du Barry noted in her memoirs:

Zamor lived at the Palace of Versailles even after the death of Louis XV in 1774 and the exile of Madame du Barry. Upon her freedom in 1776, Zamor was reunited with Du Barry, and they moved into the Château de Louveciennes.

Role in the French Revolution

When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, Zamor took the side of the revolutionaries and joined the Jacobins. He detested Countess du Barry and deplored her lavish lifestyle and cruel enslavement. He protested her repeated visits to England to retrieve her lost jewelry and warned her against protecting aristocrats.

As an informant to the Committee of Public Safety, Zamor got the police to arrest the Countess in 1792 on her return from one of her many visits to England. The Countess, however, secured her release from jail and discovered the arrest was the handiwork of her slave, Zamor. She promptly dismissed Zamor from her household. In his freedom, Zamor was more vocal in his support for the revolution. He brought further charges against the Countess, which eventually led to her arrest, trial and execution by guillotine. At the trial, Zamor stated Chittagong was his birthplace.

Imprisonment

Soon after the execution of the countess, Zamor was arrested by the Girondins on suspicion of being an accomplice of the Countess and a Jacobin. He was tried and imprisoned for six weeks but was able to secure his release.

He then fled from France, reappearing only in 1815 after the fall of Napoleon. Zamor bought a house in Rue Maître-Albert, near the Latin Quarter of Paris, and spent a few years as a schoolteacher.

Death

Zamor died in poverty on 7 February 1820, and was buried in Paris.

In popular culture

Zamor aged 12 appears in Alexandre Dumas's novel ''Joseph Balsamo''.

A two-page comic strip, ''La rue perdue'' (The Lost Street), was published in 1978. This strip features Gil Jourdan, a detective created by Maurice Tillieux. Set in 1953, Detective Jourdan tries to find out why a fake guillotine blade is hanging outside the door of a friend. The person responsible turns out to be a racist man obsessed with Madame du Barry, seeking to avenge her death through the life of Jourdan's friend who looks like Zamor. The story is set in rue Maître Albert, where Zamor resided before his death.

In Sofia Coppola's 2006 film ''Marie Antoinette'', Madame du Barry (portrayed by Asia Argento) was shown in the company of an enslaved black boy, who most likely represents Zamor. He is portrayed by Ibrahim Yaffa and Djibril Djimo (respectively as a child and as a teenager) in the 2023 film '' Jeanne du Barry.''

See also

* Jean Amilcar

References

Sources

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1762 births
1820 deaths
People from the Bengal Subah
People from Chittagong
French slaves
People of the French Revolution
Jacobins
Converts to Christianity from Sunni Islam
Habshis of Bengal
Court of Louis XV
18th-century slaves