Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte

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Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte

Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte (born October 11, 1815 in Rome , † April 7, 1881 in Versailles ) was a member of the Bonaparte family . He led an eventful life, but hardly played a role politically. When he killed a journalist in 1870, it sparked a scandal that shook the regime of the Second Empire .

Life

He was a son of Lucien Bonaparte , a brother of Napoleon I , and his wife Alexandrine de Bleschamp. He grew up in the estate Canino in the Papal States some 60 km to Rome. There he was taught by two spiritual tutors. He was impulsive and violent. He had affairs with women at an early age.

As a teenager, he joined the rebellious Carbonari in Romagna in 1830 . He was caught and imprisoned in 1831. After his release, he first went to his uncle Joseph Bonaparte in the USA . There he met his cousin Louis Napoleon Bonaparte , who later became Emperor Napoleon III. In Colombia he fought under General Santander in 1832 . He excelled, but when he was offered a prominent position, the European powers intervened, fearing that Bonapartism would flare up.

Pope Gregory XVI allowed him to return to the Papal States after falling ill while traveling in South America. He kept getting into conflict and killed an officer. Thereupon he was sentenced to death, but later pardoned. He went to the United States again in 1837. When he got involved in a shooting there, he went to London and from there offered his services to various governments in vain. During a trip to Corfu , he killed two Albanian robbers and had to leave the island immediately. Back in England, there was a liaison with the French Rose Hesnard. The couple later lived in the Ardennes in Belgium .

After the February Revolution of 1848 , he went to France and was elected a member of the constituent national assembly for a Corsican constituency. He successfully campaigned in parliament for the right to return of the Bonaparte family, who had actually been banished from France since 1816.

He presented himself as a radical Republican and also voted with the extreme left. He advocated the establishment of national workshops and spoke out against strengthened rights of the clergy in education. At times this helped to win supporters for the position of President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. With a view to Pierre's past, however, the president made sure that Pierre should do military service in the Foreign Legion in Algeria . There he behaved insubordinately and had to be called back.

Pierre disapproved of his cousin's coup in 1851 without making it public. In 1852 his wife Rose died. Some time later he married the former street girl Justine Ruffin. He then had to retire to Corsica; officially he was given the job of catching a bandit. He stayed in Corsica and built a house, acquired land and a hunting ground. Napoleon III awarded him the title of Imperial Prince. The Republicans turned away from him and he lost all political influence. In 1853, Pierre was the best man at the emperor's wedding to Eugénie de Montijo ; he signed the necessary papers without seeing the couple or being invited to the wedding. He returned to Corsica and lived like a country gentleman. He went hunting and had numerous affairs that resulted in a number of illegitimate children. He also tried his hand at being a poet.

In the parliamentary elections of 1863 he toyed with the idea of ​​running, but Napoleon III. thwarted this and supported an opposing candidate. In 1864 he became chairman of the Conseil General de la Corse, but soon left the island. He lived first in Belgium and then in Paris.

In 1870 he had an argument with Paschal Grousset ; it was about the honor of the Bonaparte family. Grousset sent two journalists to him and, during the heated debate with them, shot Victor Noir . The circumstances are not entirely clear, it may have been self-defense. Pierre was arrested and the scandal rocked the regime. The matter sparked violent reactions in the Republican press. There was a trial in Tours , but the court acquitted Pierre and declared self-defense. The scandal intensified criticism of the government.

After the end of the Second Empire, Pierre lost his property. At last he lived in modest circumstances and received some money from some relatives and other people. He saw how his son Roland , a well-known anthropologist, married the daughter of the wealthy owner of the casino in Monte Carlo , François Blanc , in 1880 . He was buried in Versailles .

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Commons : Pierre-Napoléon Bonaparte  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Bonaparte, Pierre Napoleon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION imperial prince, member of the National Assembly
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1881
Place of death Versailles