Léon Denuelle

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Léon Denuelle

Charles Léon Denuelle , later Comte de la Plaigne, from 1814 Count of Luxburg (born December 15, 1806 in Paris , † April 15, 1881 in Pontoise , Département Val-d'Oise ) was the first son of Napoleon and his mistress Éléonore Denuelle .

Life

When Léon was born on December 15, 1806, father Napoleon was anything but convinced of his fatherhood , as he knew very well that there were still a few more men to be considered as sire . Léon's mother, Éléonore Denuelle, was brought in to Napoleon by his own sister. She was well aware of the consequences of dismissing Napoleon's courtship and endured the time with the Emperor by putting the clock forward by an hour or two.

Eleanor, however, remained true to the statement throughout her life that Napoleon was Léon's father. However, the great general did not allow himself to be softened by this: When Eleanor suggested that the son be named after him, he did not allow the boy to be baptized in the name of Napoleon, only that he be named after the second half of his name, Léon has been. However, he raised the supposed son to the rank of count to the Comte de la Plaigne and secured him financially, although without recognizing him as a son. However, he broke off all contact with Eleonore after he had previously given her the addition "de la Plaigne".

The young Léon was often the guest of his grandmother Letizia Bonaparte , who in 1815 even became his guardian for a time, and his father also left Léon 72,000 francs in his will. It is questionable whether he ever received it. However, this also suggests that Léon was Napoleon's son. The later similarity left no doubt about that. Still, the differences between the two couldn't have been greater: Léon was work-shy and wasteful throughout his life.

On May 23, 1814, his mother was third married to Count Karl August von Luxburg , who adopted Léon, who was just 7 years old. As Count of Luxburg, Léon later acquired a castle in Edingen-Neckarhausen , very close to the place where his adoptive father lived, who had meanwhile become director of the Mannheim National Theater . He then began studying in Heidelberg , which he soon gave up. His dissolute student life as well as several daring ventures (such as building submarines) increased his mountain of debt. Even the leap to self-employment as an ink manufacturer and sewer construction contractor did not succeed. In 1839 his castle was foreclosed by auction. Léon joined the army and rose to become battalion chief, but was soon dismissed for disobedience. His attempt to become a priest failed due to the Pope's refusal. His gambling addiction and his penchant for expensive women soon drove him to the brink of ruin, despite a large inheritance and financial donations from his half-brother Alexandre Colonna-Walewski and his grandmother. After trying to sue his own mother for money, he was sent to a debt prison for two years. After his release he temporarily lived in a homeless asylum.

The 1848 revolution brought Léon a new field of activity: politics. He joined the socialists , declared enemies of his own cousin Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later Napoleon III. , who supported Léon financially after a fight in London which was based on an attempt at extortion by Léon. During this time, Léon only appeared under his mother's maiden name as Léon Denuelle, while his children later continued the actual name in French as Comte de Luxbourg.

Later, Léon lived temporarily in England, Germany and Italy before moving to Pontoise with his wife Françoise Fanny Jonet, with whom he had five children. He died there on April 15, 1881. His grandson Charles de Luxbourg (1911–1995), who left a daughter, was the last male descendant of this line of Bonapartes.

literature

Fiction
  • Philippe Chiaverini: La Corse et le procès du comte Léon. Novel . Anima Corsa, Bastia 2013, ISBN 978-2-919381-13-5 .
Non-fiction
  • Stefan Glasses: Women around Napoleon . Piper, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-492-23811-4 (EA Munich 2001)
  • Joseph Valynseele: La descendance naturell de Napoléon Ier. Le comte Léon, le comte Walewski . Self-published, Paris 1964.
  • Joseph Vebret: Le comte Léon. Bâtard infernal de Napoléon . Éditions du Moment, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-35417-155-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bourg, Edme Theodore (Saint-Edme): Liaisons and gallantries of the kings of France, Vol. 2, Schneeberg 1830, p. 348 ff
  2. ↑ http://www.edingen-neckarhausen.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Dateien/2016_-_Schlossfleyer_-_Endversion.pdf ; "Elector and Emperor served" in: Mannheimer Morgen from August 13, 2016, p. 53 and "From the Poststation to the Castle" in: Mannheimer Morgen from April 4, 2018, p. 10
  3. ↑ http://www.edingen-neckarhausen.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Dateien/2016_-_Schlossfleyer_-_Endversion.pdf
  4. ↑ Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum: Just seen on LeMO: LeMO holdings: biography. Retrieved January 26, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Gläser, Stefan: Women around Napoleon, p. 24.
personal data
SURNAME Denuelle, Léon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Denuelle, Charles Léon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Son of Napoleon and his mistress Eleonore Denuelle
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1881
Place of death Pontoise , Val-d'Oise department