Napoleon Bonaparte Biography: Napoleon Bonaparte is a revered, feared, and formerly reviled figure. The Emperor of France was a remarkable general, a supremely competent leader, and a man the French people and soldiers adored. Napoleon’s shrewd political and military manoeuvres allowed him to ascend to the highest levels of power and ultimately lead France to a position of preeminence in Europe. Napoleon rose from the ruins of what had been France following the French Revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte Biography
Early Years
Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, and he was baptised on July 21, 1771.
He entered the primary boarding school operated by Beguine lay sisters in Ajaccio as a day boy in 1774 when he was five years old. Napoleon left Abbé Recco 20,000 Francs in his will. Two years later, Napoleon studied French with Abbé Recco.
Charles Bonaparte and his two eldest sons left for mainland France on December 16, 1778. On 1 January 1779, Joseph and Napoleon attended the school in Autun in order to improve their French. He left Autun on 21 April, stayed with M. de Champeaux for three weeks, and then departed for the Royal Military Secondary school in Brienne.
Napoleon Bonaparte Career
Napoleon Bonaparte was an ardent nationalist for Corsica during the French Revolution. He requested permission to join his mentor Pasquale Paoli, who did not have any compassion for him. During the early years of the French Revolution, he was stationed in Corsica, where he fought in a complex three-way conflict between royalists, revolutionaries, and Corsican nationalists. In July 1792, he was given command of a volunteer battalion and promoted to captain in the regular army. When Corsica proclaimed formal independence from France, he and his commitment to the French Revolution came into conflict with Paoli, who planned to sabotage the Corsican contribution to the Expédition de Sardaigne.
Due to the split with Paoli, Bonaparte and his family were forced to escape to Toulon on the French mainland in June 1793. After this, he adopted the name Napoleon Bonaparte. Not until 1796 did his family abandon the name Buonaparte.
Children and Marriages of Napoleon
Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814) in 1796. She was a fashionable widow six years his senior with two adolescents. Napoleon annulled his marriage to the Empress Josephine in 1809 so he could find a new wife and produce an heir. This was more than a decade after he and Josephine had failed to produce children. Marie Louise (1791-1847), the daughter of the Austrian emperor, was his bride in 1810. The following year, she gave birth to their son, Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), also known as Napoleon II and crowned king of Rome. Napoleon had several illegitimate offspring in addition to his son Marie Louise.
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Napoleon’s Bonaparte Last Decades
Napoleon was exiled to the remote, British-controlled island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean in October 1815. He passed away there on May 5, 1821, at the age of 51, most likely due to gastric cancer. Napoleon frequently posed for paintings during his time in power with his hand in his vest, leading to speculation that he suffered from stomach discomfort for years. Napoleon was buried on the island despite his wish to be buried “on the banks of the Seine, among the French people I have loved so much.” His remains were returned to France in 1840 and interred in a crypt at Les Invalides in Paris, alongside those of other French military commanders.
Facts
- He was a nationalist of Corsica
- Although Napoleon is associated with the first French empire, he attempted to liberate his motherland from French occupation when he was young. Before his birth, his parents resisted French occupation, and as a youth, the emperor referred to the French as demons and enemies of free men.
- Before his exile to Elba, he attempted suicide.
- Napoleon was forced to abdicate as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau on April 11, 1814, following a calamitous campaign in Russia and demands from the Sixth Coalition. Following his exile, he ingested a poisonous pill that rendered him severely ailing but did not prove fatal.
- He was of average stature
- He was likely approximately five feet six inches tall, which was about average for the era. Upon his passing, a detailed description of his stature was written down. During his lifetime, the rumour of
- Napoleon’s height persisted. In satirical caricatures, the English government depicted the general as comically diminutive.
- His first wife, Josephine De Beauharnais, narrowly evaded execution.
- Joséphine, who was born in Martinique, married Alexandre de Beauharnais at the age of 16 and became a member of the French royal family. After the revolution engulfed all of Paris, she was imprisoned in Les Carmes despite her connections to males from high society.
