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Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey and a graduate of Somerville, New Jersey High School where he excelled at singing, acting, and athletics. After the early death of his mother, he was raised by his father, a preacher and escaped slave, who impressed upon him the need for self-improvement through education. Taking this to heart, he won a scholarship to Rutgers University where he excelled in both academics and sports (he was class valedictorian, became an All-American in American Football, had fifteen varsity letters, and was selected to Cap and Skull), and went on to earn a law degree at Columbia University. He was in the same law school class as William O. Douglas. He quit the legal profession after a secretary refused to take dictation from a Black man. Robeson also studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, where he claims he was alerted to the power and strength of his heritage, by learning about the history of Africa.

Robeson found fame as an actor and singer (he had a fine bass voice), and acclaimed performances as Eugene O'NeillEugene (Gladstone) O'Neill ( October 16, 1888 November 27, 1953) was an American playwright best known for explorations into the darker aspects of the human condition. Frequently, his plays show people on the outer edges of society or begin in a situation's The Emperor JonesThe Emperor Jones is a play by Eugene O'Neill which tells the tale of an African-American man who kills a man, goes to prison, escapes to a Caribbean island, and sets himself up as its dictator and emperor. Paul Robeson originated the role on stage and st (originating the role both on stage and on the screen), Porgy and BessPorgy and Bess is an opera with music by George Gershwin, based on the novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward. Summertime" and "I loves you, Porgy" are the most recognized of its songs. The opera was premiered on October 10, 1935 at the Alvin Theater in New York C and, in 1930, as OthelloThis page is about the Shakespeare play, for the board game, see Othello board game. Othello: The Moor of Venice is a play by Shakespeare written about 1603. Othello is a tragedy, like Hamlet Macbeth and King Lear''. Shakespeare probably wrote Othello aft in EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England, when no US company would employ him for the role. He reprised the role in New York in 1943. At the time the Broadway run of Othello was the longest Broadway run of any Shakespeare play. He won the Spingarn MedalThe Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by a Black American. The award, consisting of a gold medal, was created by Joel Elias Spingarn, Chairman of the Board of the NAACP in 1914. It was first given in 1915, and eac in 1945 for his performance. Uta HagenUta Hagen ( 12 June 1919 14 January 2004) was an American theatrical actress and acting teacher. She was born in Gottingen in Germany and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was primarily noted for s played Desdemona, and José FerrerJose Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintron known as Jose Ferrer ( January 8, 1912- January 26, 1992), was an actor and director, born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Ferrer made his film debut with Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc in 1948, for which he received his fi played Iago. Robeson's repertoire of African-American folk songs helped bring these to much wider attention both inside the US and abroad - in particular his stunning rendition of " Go Down Moses".

Paul Robeson by Yousuf Karsh, 1938

On his frequent trips overseas he was highly critical of the conditions experienced by black Americans, especially in the segregated southern states. This outspokenness, together with sympathies expressed towards the people of the Soviet Union (which largely stemmed from his belief that the African-American slaves shared a common bond with the pre-revolutionary serfs of Russia) led to his being branded a communist by J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI.

Undeterred, he still occasionally sang overseas, including a performance at the Welsh National Eisteddfod conducted over the telephone. In 1940, Robeson had appeared in The Proud Valley , in which he played a black labourer arriving in south Wales and winning the hearts of the local population; he continues to be thought of as having particular links with Wales, where his political views were not seen as controversial.

In 1949, Robeson performed a concert in Peekskill, New York. After the concert, organized anti-Communist and racist vigilantes attacked departing concertgoers, while local police stood by and did nothing. The local newspaper was accused of encouraging the attacks, dubbed the Peekskill Riots.

He was hounded by the McCarthyite House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that attempted to cite him for refusal to sign the non-communist declaration. In complicity with the HUAC the US State Department denied him a passport which effectively confined him to the United States. During a 1952 tour of the United States a concert was organized at the International Peace Arch on the border between Washington State and British Columbia. This was done as an act of defiance against the authorities who refused to allow him to cross the border. The concert took place on May 18, 1952. Paul Robeson stood on the back of a flat bed truck on the American side of the Canada-US border and performed a concert for a large crowd on the Canadian side, variously estimated at between 20,000 and 40,000 people.

Prior to his passport's return in 1958, Robeson wrote a book, Here I Stand, which eloquently makes an impassioned case for concerted action to right the inequities of the Jim Crow system. After he got back his passport he spent five years touring the world, playing Othello again in 1959 in Tony Richardson's production at Stratford-upon-Avon, and singing throughout Europe and in Australia and New Zealand. It was on his visit to England that he befriended English actor Andrew Faulds and inspired him to take up a career in politics. His health broke down and he spent time in Russian and East German hospitals. The remainder of his life was plagued by ill health and depression, and his appearances were relatively few. His 75th birthday was celebrated in Carnegie Hall where a taped message from him was played.

Paul Robeson died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1976 where he had been living with his sister. He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. His wife Essie Cardozo Goode (who was related to Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo) had predeceased him.

Although Robeson is one of the " Great Forerunners " in Black equality, the McCarthy era virtually erased his memory from the consciousness of younger Americans. He was conversant in over 20 languages, and at one time carried enough clout to be considered for a vice presidential spot on Henry A. Wallace's 1948 ticket. His singing voice was a sonorous bass-baritone once described thus: "If God should come to earth and sing, He would sound something like Paul Robeson."

Some critics have stated that Robeson’s status as a “victim” of the HUAC’s investigation is unwarranted due to the extensive ties Robeson had with both the Soviet Union and the CPUSA, which was known to be actively involved in espionage against the United States. However there has never been any evidence that Robeson himself had committed espionage or treason.

The story of Itzik Feffer is an example of the lengths Paul Robeson would go to to defend the communist Soviet Union.

It was in appreciation of his support that in 1953 he was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize. However, in a concert broadcast live across the Soviet Union, Robeson subtly defied Stalin's campaign against Jewish "cosmopolitism" by ending his set with a song sung in Yiddish. An act that was interpreted by many Jews listening to the broadcast as a sign of solidarity and sympathy. The Yiddish song was cut from rebroadcasts of the concert. (This is recounted in Mary M. Leder's book My Life in Stalinist Russia).

Robeson also wrote a tribute to Joseph Stalin in April, 1953 shortly after Stalin's death entitled To You Beloved Comrade.

In 2004, the U.S. Postal Service honored Robeson with a stamp in the Black Heritage Series.