“Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Nicknamed the “Bronze Venus”, the “Black Pearl”, and even the “Créole Goddess” in anglophone nations.

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture and to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the French Resistance during World War II and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de guerre”.

Photo: American entertainer Josephine Baker in costume for her famous “banana dance”. Baker was an overnight sensation when she arrived in Paris in the mid-1920s. (Photo by Walery/Getty Images)

Crowds look on as Xolo the Giant Dog, one of the giant Royal De Luxe street puppets taking part in Liverpool's World War I centenary commemorations, walks through the streets of Liverpool on July 25, 2014 in Liverpool, England. French street theatre company Royal de Luxe are putting on a show throughout the city as part of Liverpool's World War I centenary commemorations from July 23-27. The giant puppet grandmother has slept in the hall for two days as part of “Memories of August 1914”. As the giants tour the city the Little Girl Giant and her dog Xolo will meet up with the giant Grandmother telling the story of life leading up to World War One. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

in WA police cordon guards the house of Poland's ruling conservative party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski against a crowd protesting a decision by the Constitutional Court, in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, October 23, 2020. Poland’s top court ruled Thursday that a law allowing abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional, shutting a major loophole in the predominantly Catholic country's abortion laws that are among the strictest in Europe. Defying the pandemic-related ban on gatherings, the protesters chanted for the government to resign. (Photo by Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

Personal trainer Antonietta Orsini carries out an exercise class for her neighbours from her balcony while Italians cannot leave their homes due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Rome, Italy, March 18, 2020. (Photo by Remo Casilli/Reuters)

Rajesh Babu, a police officer, wearing a helmet depicting coronavirus, requests a commuter to stay at home during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chennai, India, March 28, 2020. (Photo by P. Ravikumar/Reuters)

A man being tested for the COVID-19 novel coronavirus reacts as a medical worker takes a swab sample in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on April 16, 2020. China has largely brought the coronavirus under control within its borders since the outbreak first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

A counter-protester gestures during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in London, Britain, June 13, 2020. (Photo by Simon Dawson/Reuters)

Womentake a selfie in front Russian military vehicles during a rehearsal for the WWII Victory Parade in Moscow on June 17, 2020. Russia's President Putin on June 24 will preside over a massive military parade to mark Soviet victory in World War II, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)