In nineteenth-century Europe, Africans were rare sights in royal courts, and when present, they were often treated less as ordinary people and more as symbols of curiosity and status. One such figure was John Panzio, an African man who became a valet and close attendant to King Charles XV of Sweden in the mid 1850s.
John Panzio was born around 1838 in Africa, though his precise place of birth remains unknown. As a child, he was enslaved and placed aboard a slave ship bound for the Americas, but the vessel was intercepted by a British man-of-war, preventing its arrival and redirecting the course of his life toward Europe.
Subsequent records list him under several surnames, including Tuckson, Tockson, and Toxon, suggesting that his original name was lost or inconsistently recorded after his removal from Africa.
By the mid-1850s, he had arrived in Sweden, possibly through service with the military, and entered the home of the royal family via Prince August, who introduced him to the young crown prince, Charles. The prince gave him the name “Panzio,” a choice meant to evoke exoticism, reflecting European fascination with people from distant lands.
Back then, European courts sometimes kept Africans as attendants or servants precisely because their presence signaled wealth, global reach, and novelty. Clothing, presentation, and placement were frequently designed to emphasize difference.
In some instances, African children were captured in Africa and gifted to European royalty and nobles, continuing an older court tradition in which non-European attendants were used to enhance prestige. These Africans were sometimes presented as personal servants, pages, or valets, their presence intended to decorate the court and underline the ruler’s international connections. While framed as honor or favor, such arrangements were rooted in racial hierarchy and objectification.
John Panzio’s experience fit squarely within this pattern. Court imagery often depicted him in colorful or orientalized attire, reinforcing the idea that he represented something foreign and unusual rather than fully belonging to Swedish society.
At court, Panzio was officially a secondary valet and pipe attendant, tasked with tending to the king’s smoking pipes, dogs, and horses. But his role extended beyond menial service. He was a visible presence at dinners and public events, standing behind the king in full view of the court and visitors, a rare position for a person of African descent in 19th-century Sweden.
Panzio’s prominence at court sparked both admiration and controversy. While he was close to the king, court insiders and visitors sometimes complained about his conduct. In 1866, he was formally dismissed from the royal household, officially for allegedly stealing cigars, though social tensions and discomfort with his public presence likely played a larger role. Despite his dismissal, he remained a familiar figure in Stockholm and maintained connections from his time at court.
After Charles XV’s death in 1872, Panzio adapted to civilian life. He worked in a public bathhouse, assisted a magician as an interpreter, and later worked in a billiard hall. He married a Swedish woman, Mathilda Charlotta Andersson, and raised children. His life ended abruptly on 27 July 1887, when he died of a stroke in Stockholm.
Sources:
https://www.epoch-magazine.com/post/the-last-court-morian
