Partner Josephine Baker
Queer Places:
Château des Milandes, 24250 Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, France
Cimetière de Monaco
Monaco-Ville, Monaco
Jo
Bouillon (born Joseph Bouillon; 3 May 1908 – 9 July 1984) was a French
composer, conductor and violinist. In 1947
Josephine Baker wed white gay French jazz bandleader Jo Bouillon, a
marriage that at least on paper lasted until her death.
Bouillon's father and his brother Gabriel were musicologists, respectively in Montpellier and Paris. From 1936 to 1947, he directed the "Jo Bouillon et son orchestre" ensemble[1] then devoted himself to accompanying Joséphine Baker. Baker made many recordings with Jo Bouillon who accompanied her on her tours, as he accompanied Mistinguett and Maurice Chevalier. Bouillon married Baker in 1947 and together they bought the Château des Milandes in Dordogne. There they carried out their project to adopt children of different nationalities, in order to prove that the cohabitation of different "races" could work admirably. Finally, they adopted twelve children. All the children that the couple adopted bear the name "Bouillon". Josephine Baker and Bouillon separated in 1957 and divorced in 1961. Jo Bouillon retired to Buenos Aires where he opened a French restaurant, Le Bistro. He died in 1984, at the age of 76, and is buried in the Monaco Cemetery, his coffin resting on that of Josephine in the black granite vault of Africa offered by Princess Grace.
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