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 The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

from 1910 until his death. He was the last male-lineage descendant of

Lucien Bonaparte Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (born Luciano Buonaparte; 21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), was French politician and diplomat of the French Revolution and the Consulate. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1799 to 1800 ...

, the genetically senior branch of the family since 1844.

Biography

Bonaparte was born 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 ...

on 19 May 1858, the son of Prince

Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

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 ...

. He was a grandson 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 ...

's brother. Three Aboriginal Australians from 1885 in Paris

Prince Roland was married in

on 18 November 1880, to

Marie-Félix Blanc Princess Marie-Félix Bonaparte (née Marie-Félix Blanc; 22 December 1859 – 1 August 1882) was a French heiress. Born into a wealthy French bourgeoisie family with financial holdings in Monaco and Germany, she was left with a large inheritance ...

(1859–1882), the daughter of

François Blanc François Blanc (; 12 December 1806 – 27 July 1877), nicknamed "The Magician of Homburg" and "The Magician of Monte Carlo", was a French entrepreneur and operator of casinos, including the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. His daughter, Marie-F� ...

. They had one daughter, Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962). In 1884, Bonaparte was part of a scientific expedition that photographed and anatomically measured the Sami people, Sami inhabitants of Northern Norway.Special Exhibit: Laplander Studies by Roland Bonaparte
Retrieved December 14, 2022. The following year he was photographing Aboriginal Australians brought to Europe and the US to be studied by anthropologists and exhibited by the general public. Bonaparte-groupshot

Bonaparte was the President of the Société astronomique de France, Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1921–1923.de la Société astronomique de France'', November 1937, plates X-IX
/ref> On the death of his cousin Prince Prince Napoléon Bonaparte of Canino, Napoléon Charles Bonaparte in 1899, he succeeded him as the 6th Prince of Canino and Musignano, but he never assumed the title. With Prince Roland's death in Paris on 14 April 1924, the senior line of the House of Bonaparte descending from

became extinct in the male line.

Legacy

Bonaparte Point in Antarctica was named after him by Jean-Baptiste Charcot. There is also a small lake on the mountains above the Sami people, Coast Sámi/Norwegian people, Norwegian village Kvalsund which is called Bonapartesjøen - Lake Bonaparte - after his abovementioned visit to the region.

References

External links

Presidents of the Société de Géographie
1858 births 1924 deaths Nobility from Paris House of Bonaparte, Roland Bonaparte Princes of Canino and Musignano, Roland Bonaparte Princes of France (Bonaparte), Roland Bonaparte French geographers Presidents of the International Geographical Union Members of the French Academy of Sciences {{geographer-stub