Pauline Bonaparte
| Pauline Bonaparte | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Guastalla Princess consort of Sulmona and of Rossano | |
Ferdinand | |
| Successor | Duchy annexed by Parma |
| Born | 20 October 1780 Maison Bonaparte, Ajaccio, Corsica |
| Died | 9 June 1825 (aged 44) Florence, Tuscany |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
Roman Catholicism | |
| Signature |  |
Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese (
Later, Pauline married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. Her only child, Dermide Leclerc, born from her first marriage, died in childhood. She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit Napoleon in exile on his principality, Elba.
Early life
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Maria Paola Buonaparte, the sixth child of
Pauline's brother
Saint-Domingue
However, celebrations were dampened by the advent of yellow fever season: 25 generals and 25,000 soldiers died from the fever.[21] Leclerc had initially guaranteed that slavery, abolished by the Jacobin republic in 1794, would stay proscribed; however, the inhabitants caught wind of its re-establishment in another French colony, neighbouring Guadeloupe, in July.[22] The French government had eliminated slavery in May. As a result, the indigenous residents of Saint-Domingue planned an insurrection for September 16.[23] Black troops in Leclerc's army defected to their old commanders, and the Governor-General had a mere 2,000 men against the rebels' 10,000.[24] Leclerc, fearing for Pauline's safety, gave express orders to Jacques de Norvin, a sergeant, to remove Pauline from Saint-Domingue at a moment's notice,[25] but these precautions proved unnecessary when Leclerc defeated the insurgents.
The climate was taking its toll on Pauline's health. She could no longer walk and was compelled to a "reclining position" for several hours a day.[26] Both she and Dermide suffered from spells of yellow fever.[27] She did, however, find time to take numerous lovers, including several of her husband's soldiers, and developed a reputation for "Bacchanalian promiscuity."[28]
Leclerc attempted to convince Pauline to return to Paris in August.[29] She consented on the condition that "he [Leclerc]...give me 100,000 francs." When the Governor-General refused, she elected to stay in Saint-Domingue; observing that unlike in Paris, "Here, I reign like Josephine [Napoleon's wife]; I hold first place."[30]
To occupy herself, Pauline compiled a collection of local flora and established a menagerie, inhabited by native animals.[30]
On 22 October 1802, Leclerc fell ill. A doctor from the military hospital in Le Cap diagnosed him with a fever "caused by the bodily and mental hardships that the general [Leclerc] had suffered." Biographer Flora Fraser believes that his symptoms were consistent with those of yellow fever.[31] He died on 1 November. Seven days later, Pauline, Dermide, and Leclerc's remains were hastily ferried back to mainland France.
Princess Borghese
Pauline reached the Bay of Toulon on 1 January 1803. That same day she wrote to Napoleon: "I have brought with me the remains of my poor Leclerc. Pity poor Pauline, who is truly unhappy."[32]
On 11 February, she arrived in the capital, where Napoleon made arrangements for her to lodge with their brother Joseph.[33] Parisian rumour had it that she extracted gold and jewels from the indigenous peoples in Saint-Domingue and brought the treasure back in Leclerc's sarcophagus, but this was not the case.[34] She inherited 700,000 francs in liquid capital and assets from Leclerc.[35]
Tiring of life with Joseph, Pauline went about acquiring Hôtel Charost from the duchess to whom it belonged. She confided in a friend that she "was bored" with the code of mourning outlined in the First Consul's civil code, compelling her to withdraw from Parisian society, which, before her time in Saint-Domingue, had had her at its center.[36] Napoleon did not wish her to remain unmarried for long; he tried—but failed—to betroth her to the Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of the Napoleonic Republic of Italy, Francesco Melzi d'Eril.[36] Pope Pius VII's envoy, Giovanni Battista Caprara, suggested Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, a Roman noble.[37] The First Consul believed the union would consolidate ties with French-occupied Italy, where animosity toward the aggressor was rife.[38] That, combined with pressure from her brothers Joseph and Lucien, induced her to marry him. The marriage contract brought Camillo a dowry of 500,000 francs; to Pauline, it brought 300,000 francs worth of jewelry and the use of the Borghese family diamonds.[39] On 28 August 1803, they were married by Caprara, but without the knowledge of Napoleon, who had wanted a November wedding for mourning protocol's sake. Upon discovering Pauline's deceit, he refused to acknowledge her new title: "Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess where I am." A civil ceremony was held in November to confirm the marriage. However, Pauline continued her extramarital affairs, including an affair with the violinist Niccolò Paganini.[28]
Camillo, Pauline, and Dermide arrived in Rome on 14 November. Pauline, anxious to learn how to behave in Roman society, received tutorship in deportment and dancing.[40] Biographer William Carlton suggests that Pauline— a minor noble from Corsica—would never have made such an advantageous match if it were it not for Napoleon's political eminence.[41] Pauline's initial amity toward Camillo soon morphed into dislike.[42] Her son Dermide, always a delicate child, died on 14 August 1804 in the Aldobrandini villa in Frascati, after a violent fever and convulsions. Three years later, in 1807, his remains were moved next to those of his father in the park grounds of the Château de Montgobert.[43]
After Napoleon's fall
In 1806, Napoleon made his sister sovereign Princess and Duchess of
Upon Napoleon's fall, Pauline
After
Health
Pauline was of frail health for much of her life, probably due to
In popular culture
- Simone Genevois plays her in the 1927 silent film Napoléon.
- Gladys Holland plays her in the 1952 Haitian-located action film Lydia Bailey.[48]
- Charlotte Austin plays her in the 1954 film Désirée.
- Gianna Maria Canale plays her in the 1955 French film Napoléon.
- Claudia Cardinale plays her in the 1960 French film Austerlitz.
- Laura Valenzuela plays her in the 1961 Italian-French film Madame.
- Venere imperiale.[48]
- Maria Rosaria Omaggio plays her in the 1979 French miniseries Joséphine ou la Comédie des ambitions.
- Ione Skye plays her in the 1987 miniseries Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story.
- Constance Dollé plays her in the 2002 miniseries Napoléon.
- Yelena Podkaminskaya plays her in the 2006 Russian telenovela Adjutants of Love.
See also
References
- ^ Carlton, p 151
- ISBN 978-0-7195-6110-8, p 4
- ^ Amoia, Alba della Fazia; Bruschini, Enrico (1939). Stendhal's Rome: Then and Now. Cambridge: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. p. 61.
- ^ a b Fraser, p 5
- ^ a b Fraser, p 9
- ^ Fraser, p 10
- ^ Fraser, p 7
- ^ Fraser, p 25
- ^ Fraser, p 27
- ^ Fraser, p 28
- ^ Fraser, p 29
- ^ Fraser, p 30
- ^ Fraser, p 34
- ^ Fraser, p 41
- ^ Carlton, W.N.C.: Pauline: Favourite Sister of Napoleon, Thornton Butterworth, 1931, London (pre-dates use of ISBN), p 66
- ^ a b c Carlton, p 71
- ^ a b Carlton, p 73
- ^ Fraser, p 61
- ^ Fraser, p 62
- ^ Fraser, p 63
- ^ Carlton, pp. 73–74
- ^ Carlton, p 74
- ^ Fraser, p 79
- ^ Fraser, pp. 79–80
- ^ Carlton, p 77
- ^ Carlton, p 84
- ^ Fraser, p 75
- ^ a b c Laura Thompson (22 May 2009). "Venus of Empire: the Life of Pauline Bonaparte by Flora Fraser". Telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Fraser, pp. 77–78
- ^ a b Carlton, p 76
- ^ Fraser, p 83
- ^ Carlton, p 83
- ^ Carlton, pp. 83–84
- ^ Carlton, p 86
- ^ Fraser, p 90
- ^ a b Fraser, p 91
- ^ Carlton, 99
- ^ Carlton, p 100
- ^ Fraser, pp. 96–97
- ^ Carlton, p 113
- ^ Carlton, p 106
- ^ Fraser, p 102
- ^ Napoleon, Prisonnier – Les militaires: Leclerc (in French) [retrieved 10 July 2013].
- ISBN 0-7011-7687-3., page 180-1
- ^ Fraser, Flora. "Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire, Author Q&A". Random House. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Selin, Shannon (March 2014). "How Pauline Bonaparte Lived for Pleasure". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Walton, Geri (7 June 2018). "Napoleon's Pleasure-loving Sister Pauline Bonaparte". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ a b Dumont, Hervé. "Toussaint Louverture et la révolte des esclaves aux Antilles (1796 à 1802)". Encyclopédie – Cinéma & Histoire / Histoire & Cinéma (in French). Retrieved 24 April 2022.
Bibliography
- Carlton, W.N.C.: Pauline: Favourite Sister of Napoleon, London: Thornton Butterworth, 1931 (pre-dates use of ISBN)
- Dixon, Pierson: Pauline: Napoleon's Favourite Sister, London: Collins, 1964
- Fleischmann, Hector: Pauline Bonaparte and Her Lovers: As Revealed by Contemporary Witnesses, by Her Own Love Letters and by the Anti-Napoleonic Pamphleteers, John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1914
- ISBN 978-0-7195-6110-8
- Ortzen, Len: Imperial Venus: The Story of Pauline Bonaparte-Borghese, London: Constable, 1974
- Weiner, Margery: The Parvenu Princesses: Elisa, Pauline and Caroline Bonaparte, London: John Murray, 1964
External links
- About.com Mini-Biography on Pauline Bonaparte Archived 2008-01-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Mini-Biography on Pauline Bonaparte Archived 2017-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Spencer Napoleonica Collection Archived 2012-12-05 at archive.today at Newberry Library
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