Jo Bouillon

Joseph Bouillon (3 May 1908 – 9 July 1984) was a French composer, conductor and violinist. As Joséphine Baker's fourth husband, he enjoyed prominence in the 1950s.

Bouillon in 1939

Biography

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".

Baker and Bouillon separated in 1957 and divorced in 1961. 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 top of Baker's in the black granite vault of Africa offered by Princess Grace.

References
  1. Jo Bouillon et son orchestre, catalogue.bnf.fr; accessed 2 August 2018.

Bibliography
  • Joséphine, with Joséphine Baker (and the collaboration of Jacqueline Cartier), Éditions Robert Laffont, 1976
  • La véritable Joséphine Baker, ISBN 2857046162 by Emmanuel Bonini, éditions Pygmalion, 2000
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