[tablespoon]

> Whoa, he is indeed black: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michell

>> There is no surviving portrait of Michell; he is said to have been "a little short Man, of a black Complexion, and fat".

Only if you assume that describing someone as having a "black Complexion" sometime between 1731-1764 has the same meaning as if an American used phrase in 2021 (e.g. having Sub-Saharan African ancestry). I think there's a fairly high likelihood that assumption is wrong.

The wikipedia cite identifies the source as "Cole MSS XXXIII, 156, British Library", which appears to be this http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/disp...

> 43. Account of the Woodwardian professors of fossils, at Cambridge, viz. Dr. Conyers Middleton, Dr. Charles Mason, Mr. John Michel, and Dr. Ogden, 1731-1764. pp. 156, 157.

[8bitsrule]

Colors have many shades; Beethoven was often said to be 'swarthy' (dict: dark-hued or dark-complexioned) by contemporaries, sometimes called 'Spagnolo' or 'Moorish'. Gossip aside, tells us nothing useful in the context of his achievements.