Zamor

For other people named Zamor, see Zamor (disambiguation).

Zamor
Alleged 1785 portrait of Zamor by Marie-Victoire Lemoine
Born	c. 1762 Chittagong, Bengal
Died	7 February 1820 (aged 57–58) Paris, France
Signature

Louis-Benoît Zamor (c. 1762 – 7 February 1820) was an Indian-born slave and revolutionary who spent most of his life in France. Born in Chittagong, Bengal in c. 1762, he was captured and sold into slavery in 1773 and brought to France, possibly by a British sea captain. He became a servant of Madame du Barry, though after the French Revolution began in 1789 Zamor became a fervent supporter of the revolution and supplied information which led to du Barry's execution in 1793. Zamor disappears from historical records until 1815, when he was recorded as working as a teacher in Paris until his death in 1820.

Early life

Zamor was born in Chittagong, Bengal in c. 1762, and was possibly of Siddi descent. He was captured and sold into slavery; Chittagong was a major depot for the Indian Ocean slave trade at the time. Following his enslavement, he was brought to France, possibly by a British sea captain, at an unknown date.^[1][2] He soon came into the possession of Louis XV, having possibly been bought by Louis François, Prince of Conti or Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duke of Richelieu and gifted to the king.^[3][4]

Royal servant

Alleged portrait of Zamor by a member of the Van Loo family

Louis XV subsequently gave Zamor to his mistress, Madame du Barry, who christened him as "Louis-Benoît Zamor" at the Church of Notre-Dame, Versailles and arranged for him to be educated. Du Barry "treated Zamor as some kind of curiosity and marvelled at his intelligence, insolence and independence", writing in her memoirs:

The second object of my regard was Zamor, a young African boy, full of intelligence and mischief; simple and independent in his nature, yet wild as his country. Zamor fancied himself the equal of all he met, scarcely deigning to acknowledge the king himself as his superior.^[4]

Zamor lived at the Palace of Versailles, continuing to do so after Louis XV died in 1774 and Marie Antoinette sent du Barry into exile near Meaux. In 1776, du Barry reunited with Zamor and they moved into the Château de Madame du Barry; a 1771 painting commemorating the inauguration of the château's "Pavillon de Musique" featured a supposed likeness of Zamor.^[3]

French Revolution and death

In 1789, the French Revolution began, when Zamor was approximately 27 years old. He became a fervent supporter of the revolution, joining the Jacobins and becoming a follower of George Grieve, an English revolutionary in France. Zamor also became an office holder in the Committee of Public Safety, and supplied information which led to du Barry's arrest in 1792. Upon her release, du Barry discovered Zamor's betrayal and dismissed him from her household within three days. An outraged Zamor brought further charges against her before the committee, which led to du Barry's execution by guillotine on 8 December 1793. Zamor was arrested in the same month by the Girondins due to being a Jacobin but was released six weeks later due to a lack of evidence.^[3][5]

Zamor's final residence in the Rue Maître-Albert

Zamor disappears from historical records between 1794 and 1815, when he surfaced as a teacher in Paris who lived in the 5th arrondissement near the Latin Quarter. He was said to be disliked by his students due to his harsh teaching methods. Zamor died on 7 February 1820, with his funeral having no attendees.^[6] Details of Zamor's life, including his race and physical appearance, have been contested as alleged depictions of him have had their authenticity challenged. Cecile Bishop, a biographer of Zamor, stated:

He appears in a wide range of written and visual sources, from the eighteenth century to the present, including pamphlets, novels, paintings, and even films such as Ernst Lubitsch's 1919 silent feature Madame Dubarry and Sofia Coppola's 2006 Marie Antoinette. Yet his character remains unsubstantial and elusive...^[3]

In the years following Zamor's death, Black servants in Europe who were perceived to be deceitful or lascivious were often referred to a "Zamor". The historian Lise Schreier wrote that "Between 1815 and 1914... Zamore was consistently presented as a repugnant, treacherous character... Even more perplexing, given his status as a dark-skinned commodified child, his ubiquitous shadow neither generated nor organized any type of discourse on slavery, childhood, or abuse. Zamore, who had hardly ever been considered fully human while he was alive, did not become a fully formulated thought after his death, either."^[3]

References

Footnotes

1. Nevill 2023, p. 56.
2. Filstrup & Merill 2025.
3. Flinn 2024.
4. Bhaduri 2021, p. 203.
5. Bhaduri 2021, pp. 203–204.
6. Bhaduri 2021, p. 204.

Bibliography

Books

• Bhaduri, Saugata (2021). Polycoloniality:European Transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-9-3898-1256-5.
• Filstrup, Chris; Merill, Jane (2025). The Turban: A History from East to West. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-8363-9075-6.
• Nevill, Dorothy (2023) [1907]. Leaves from the Note-Books of Lady Dorothy Nevill. Outlook Verlag. ISBN 978-3-3689-0183-7.

Websites

• Flinn, Patti (5 February 2024). "Louis-Benoit Zamor (1762-1820)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 21 January 2023.