Princess Marie-Félix Bonaparte (née Marie-Félix Blanc; 22 December 1859 – 1 August 1882) was a French heiress. Born into a wealthy French

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

family with financial holdings in Monaco and Germany, she was left with a large inheritance after her father's death. Despite her mother's objections, in 1880, she married

Prince Roland Bonaparte Roland Napoléon Bonaparte, 6th Prince of Canino and Musignano (19 May 1858 – 14 April 1924) was a French prince and president of the Société de Géographie from 1910 until his death. He was the last male-lineage descendant of Lucien Bonaparte ...

, a member of a morganatic branch of the

House of Bonaparte Italian and Corsican: ''Casa di Buonaparte'', native_name_lang=French, coat of arms=Arms of the French Empire3.svg, caption=Coat of arms assumed by Emperor Napoleon I, image_size=150px, alt=Coat of Arms of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, typ ...

. She died from an embolism a month after giving birth to her only child, Princess Marie Bonaparte.

Early life and family

Marie-Félix Blanc was born on 22 December 1859 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. S ...

to French businessman François Blanc and his second wife, Marie Charlotte Hensel. Her father was the founder of the

Société des bains de mer de Monaco The Société des Bains de Mer (SBM; en, Society of Sea Baths), officially the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco (; en, Society of Sea Baths and of the Circle of Foreigners in Monaco), is a publicly traded ...

and operated multiple casinos, including the

Casino de Monte-Carlo The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo i ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and the Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Casino in Germany. Her godfather, Count Antoine Bertora, was rumored to be her biological father. She had an older sister, Louise; an older brother,

Edmond Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

; and two older half-brothers from her father's first marriage to Madeleine-Victoire Huguelin, Camille and Charles. Her older sister later married Prince Constantine Wincenty Maria Radziwiłł. Her older brother later served as the mayor of

La Celle-Saint-Cloud La Celle-Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the Yvelines department of the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a western suburb of Paris, from the center. Population Transport La Celle-Saint-Cloud is served by two stations on th ...

, and her older half brother, Camille, served as mayor of Beausoleil. When she was 18 years old, Blanc's father died, leaving her a vast inheritance.

Marriage and issue

On 18 November 1880, Blanc married

at the

Church of Saint-Roch The Church of Saint-Roch (french: Église Saint-Roch) is a 17th-18th-century French Baroque and classical style church in Paris, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement. The current church was ...

in Paris, despite her mother's opposition. Her husband was the son of Prince Pierre-Napoléon Bonaparte and

Éléonore-Justine Ruflin Princess Éléonore-Justine Bonaparte (née Éléonore-Justine Ruflin; 1 July 1832 – 13 October 1905) was the wife of Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Pierre-Napoléon Bonaparte. Under the pseudonym Nina Bonaparte she published a memoir titl ...

, and he was a grandson of Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano and

Alexandrine de Bleschamp Alexandrine Bonaparte, Princess of Canino and Musignano (née Alexandrine de Bleschamp; 23 February 1778 – 12 July 1855) was a French aristocrat. She was first married to the banker Hippolyte Jouberthon, with whom she had one child, Anne, ...

. Her husband was also the grand-nephew of Emperor

Napoleon I 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 who ...

of France; King Jérôme I of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

; King Joseph I of Spain, Naples and Sicily; King Louis I of Holland; Queen

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

of Naples; Grand Duchess

Elisa The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...

of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino; and Duchess Pauline of Guastalla. Blanc gave birth to her only child, Princess Marie Bonaparte, on 2 July 1882 in Saint-Cloud. Her daughter married Prince George of Greece and Denmark in 1907 and had two children, Prince Peter and Princess Eugénie.

Death

Blanc's health later declined as she suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. On 1 August 1882, she died from an embolism. Blanc's death was seven years before her husband succeeded his cousin,

Napoléon Charles Bonaparte 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 who ...

, as the 6th Prince of Canino and Musignano. She was buried in the

Cimetière des Gonards The Cimetière des Gonards is the largest cemetery in Versailles on the outskirts of Paris. It began operations in 1879. The cemetery covers an area of and contains more than 12,000 graves. Description This is a rurally landscaped cemetery, the ...

in Versailles, Yvelines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Marie-Felix 1859 births 1882 deaths 19th-century French people 19th-century French women Blanc family Burials at the Cimetière des Gonards Deaths from blood disease Deaths in childbirth French people of German descent House of Bonaparte People from Saint-Cloud People of the Second French Empire People of the French Third Republic Princesses of France (Bonaparte) Princesses by marriage