St Helen and Memoirs

NAPOLEON AND saint HELENA

NAPOLEON IN ST HELENA

Napoleon was exile on the rocky island of Saint Helena, in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean. There he arrives on the 16 october 1815 and will remain during the six last years of his life.This British cartoon is dated 1815, the first year of Napoleon’s captivity, and shows a pretty fit and active prisoner, not yet sick with depression and aimlessness.

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The document is an engraving, of Napoleon Bonaparte in Saint Helena Island during his exile. Napoleon has been sent to this island after his defeat of Waterloo and his second abdication. We can observe that Napoleon is alone on Saint-Helena. However, he has a little company of a lot of animals (rats, monkey and snake). These all animals represent probably his army. On the foreground, we can see Napoleon with his uniform. This prove that Napoleon was very attached to his function. He wanders on the beach, he seems bored. On the background, we can observe a cliff with a flag at the top, this flag is raised by a rat. The English people compared the French army as nothing, only dirty animals. To conclude, the English people scoffed of Napoleon, and indirectly French people. This paint is so very ironic.

napoleon's biography

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, in Corsica, Kingdom of France. Born from the union of Carlo Bonaparte (1746-1785) and Letizia Romalino Bonaparte (1750-1836), he was the second into a family of eight children. His family was member of the minor Corsican nobility. He had two wives in his life. The first one was Josephine de Beauharnais and the last one was Marie-Louise of Austria. Bonaparte had in his life 3 children. His career: He studied on the continent where he learned the French language. He graduated from the French military academy in 1785. In the beginning of the French Revolution, Napoleon stayed in Corsica, and was indented of the army. He allied himself with the Jacobins, a pro-democracy political group. In 1795, he was promoted to major general.

In November 1799, (18 Brumaire with the Republican calendar) Napoleon Bonaparte realized a Coup. He successfully overthrew the French Directory. As a result, he became first consul. The Concordat was proclaimed in 1801. This political regime had many objectives such as the unification of the French nation, and multiply the conquests. However, the regime was very authoritarian and return to monarchical principles. In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was enthroned emperor at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. He decided to waged a war, against the European coalition and to expanded his territory. Nevertheless, after a failure of the Russia invasion by the French soldiers in 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte, two years later abdicated the throne and was exiled in Elba Island. In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte took the power during hundred days, before his other abdication after the defeat at the battle of Waterloo. He was exiled to the Saint-Helena Island. He died in 1821 from stomach cancer. Today, Napoleon Ier is buried in "Les Invalides" in Paris like other military leaders.

others masterpieces of napoleon during his exile

Napoleon musing at Saint Helena - Engraving based on the Benjamin Haydon painting - England - 1833

Napoleon at Saint Helena - Vernet, Horace, 1829

• Painted 8 years past Napoleon’s death
• Show the sick, lonely, retired emperor.
• Dressed as a civilian, lost in his thoughts.

• Painted 12 years after the captive’s death
• Contemplating the horizon as if to escape from this exile

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