Laetitia Ramolino

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Letizia di Buonaparte as the Emperor's mother (oil painting by Robert Lefèvre from 1813)
Letizia Buonaparte, plaster model by Antonio Canova
Letizia Ramolino on her deathbed; Lithograph after a drawing by Joseph Ernst Tunner 1836

Maria Laetitia Ramolino , also written Letizia , depending on the source , (* August 24, 1750 in Ajaccio on Corsica , † February 2, 1836 in Rome ), called Madame Mère , was the mother of Napoléon Bonaparte .

Life

The Ramolinos were a family that had lived in Corsica for 250 years and descended from the Lombard Counts of Collalto. Letizia's father temporarily commanded the garrison of Ajaccio and became inspector general of the roads and bridges of Corsica. When he died, her mother married a Swiss named Franz F (a) esch . Her half-brother Joseph Fesch , who became a cardinal, supported his nephew all his life.

Letizia Ramolino became the wife of Carlo di Buonaparte on June 2, 1764 in Ajaccio . When this Pascal Paoli joined in the Corsican independence fight against France, she accompanied her husband - with Napoléon pregnant and son Giuseppe by the hand - into the mountains. After the peace treaty in 1769, the family stayed in the Maison Bonaparte house in Corsica and, thanks to land ownership and the French recognition of the nobility title, including the associated privileges such as tax breaks, were able to live there appropriately for their class. When her husband Carlo died of stomach cancer in 1785, this changed and she tried - despite renewed marriage offers - to raise the children who were still at home on her own. She was supported above all by her second eldest son Napoléon, who had embarked on a military career and kept sending money to the family.

She was a very religious woman who attended mass every day. Napoléon's older brother Joseph was to become a clergyman.

When an uprising against French rule broke out in Corsica in 1793 and the B (u) onaparte family was banished from the island, they had to leave Corsica overnight with Fesch and four of their children. Her son's opinion was always important to her, but they argued more often, and out of anger at her daughter-in-law Josephine she stayed away from her son's self-coronation as emperor. He countered by simply having his mother paint into his coronation painting. Remarkable: even in great need, like in 1814, she guarded her large fortune stingily and only lent money to her children at high interest.

After the 100 days , she settled in Rome, where she acquired a palace in 1818 and died in 1836.

children

Of their total of 13 children, only eight survived. The first two died early after birth. Their second eldest son, Napoléon Bonaparte, was the first French emperor, and he raised their other children to the rank of European rulers.

literature

Web links

Commons : Laetitia Ramolino  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ramolino, Laetitia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ramolino, Maria Laetitia; Madame Mére
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of Carlo di Buonaparte and mother of Napoléon Bonaparte
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH Ajaccio , Corsica
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1836
Place of death Rome