Roustam Raza (
arm Ռուստամ Ռուզա) (Georgian: როსტომ რაზმაძე, Rostom Razmadze) (1783 – 7 December 1845), also known as Roustan or Rustam, was a
mamluk bodyguard and secondary valet 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 who ...
.
Early life
Roustam was born in
Tiflis,
Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti
The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti ( ka, ქართლ-კახეთის სამეფო, tr) (1762–1801
) was created in 1762 by the unification of two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. From the early 16th century, accor ...
(present-day
Tbilisi,
Georgia). He was of
Armenian origin; however, he considered himself
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
. At thirteen he was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in
Cairo. The
Turks gave him the name Idzhahia. The Sheikh of Cairo presented him to General
Napoleon 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 ...
in 1798, during the
French campaign in Egypt
The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...
.
In the service of Napoleon
Roustam served Napoleon for fifteen years, travelling with the First Consul and subsequent Emperor on all of his campaigns. The mamluk's role was that of a personal attendant, taking care of Napoleon's weapons and clothing, and supervising the serving of his meals. Acting as a bodyguard he slept near to the emperor. On ceremonial occasions, such as the
coronation of 1804, Roustam would be in attendance dressed in full "oriental" costume.
Later life
In 1814 Roustam married Mademoiselle Douville in
Dourdan and refused to follow the Emperor in his exile to
Elba after the first
Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to:
France under the House of Bourbon:
* Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815)
Spain under the Spanish Bourbons:
* ...
. He offered his service to Napoleon during the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
, but the recently re-crowned emperor refused to even receive him and spoke bitterly of Raza's "betrayal" in his recollections written at St. Helena.
Raza later claimed that he feared Napoleon would commit suicide and that he would be blamed for his death. He cited this as the reason he left Napoleon during the
marshals' revolt, just prior to the emperor's abdication.
Raza's position as second valet was filled during the Hundred Days restoration by his former assistant and the Imperial Librarian, Louis Étienne Saint-Denis, whom Napoleon took to calling Ali. Like Raza, Saint-Denis also wrote an autobiography about his time in Napoleon's Service.
On 7 December 1845, Roustam died in Dourdan.
[Registre d'état civil de Dourdan (1845), Archives départementales de l' Essonne] His memoirs of his service to Napoleon were first published in 1888.
See also
*
Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard
References
External links
Roustam Raza's memoirs online
Souvenirs de Roustam, mamelouck de Napoléon Ier Introduction et notes de Paul Cottin
First French Empire
Bodyguards
Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to France
People from Tbilisi
1783 births
1845 deaths
French people of Armenian descent
Georgian people of Armenian descent
Mamluks
18th-century slaves
Napoleon
Egyptian slaves
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