Albine de Montholon (18 December 1779 - 25 March 1848) was a French noblewoman, and the wife of

Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon (21 July 1783 – 21 August 1853) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. He chose to go into exile on Saint Helena with the ex-Emperor after Napoleon's second abdication. Early life and career Montho ...

. She was reputed to be the mistress of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

during his exile on

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...

Life

She was born Albine Hélène de Vassal in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Her cousin was Régis de Cambacérès. On 19 February 1797, at age 17, she married Jean-Pierre Bignon; they divorced in 1799. On 18 August 1800, at age 20, she married Daniel Roger. In December 1809, she gave birth to a son, Tristan Charles François Napoléon de Montholon-Sémonville. A second son, Napoléon Charles Tristan de Montholon-Sémonville, was born on 3 October 1810. Both sons being named "Charles", "Tristan", and "de Montholon-Sémonville" suggests they were fathered by Montholon before Albine married him on 2 July 1812, two months after divorcing Roger. She gave birth to her third son, Charles-François-Frédéric, in 1814. She gave birth to her fourth child, Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte in 1816 on Saint Helena. As she was involved at the time with both Montholon and Napoleon, it is unknown which man fathered Hélène. Shortly after Albine died in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

, Montholon married his mistress, Catherine O'Hara, mother of his son, Charles Jean Tristan. Albine was played by

Elsa Zylberstein Elsa Zylberstein (born Elsa Florence Zylbersztejn, 16 October 1968) is a French film, TV, and stage actress. After studying drama, Zylberstein began her film career in 1989, and has appeared in more than 60 films. She won the César Award for Be ...

in ''

Monsieur N. ''Monsieur N.'' is a 2003 British-French film directed by Antoine de Caunes. It tells the story of the last years of the life of the Emperor Napoléon (played by Philippe Torreton), who was imprisoned by the British on St Helena. Napoléon ret ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montholon, Albine de 1779 births 1848 deaths French untitled nobility