The Souvenir napoléonien, founded in 1937, is an association which promotes the historical study of the Napoleonic era. Its full name is the Société française d'histoire napoléonienne.

Background

First established in the year 1937 by Eugénie Gal, a great-great-niece of

Marshal Suchet Louis-Gabriel Suchet (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), Duke of Albufera (french: Duc d'Albuféra), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded ...

, the ''Souvenir napoléonien'' was recognized as a benevolent association by a French decree dated 5 November 1982. The society studies and makes known the history of the

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and

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s, from the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the

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, and the institutions, places, and people who were part of this history. For this purpose, it organizes a wide variety of events, such as conferences, seminars, study visits, and commemorations, at the international, national and regional levels, both in France and abroad. The society works closely with the ''Fondation Napoléon'', from which it receives financial support for the publication of its magazine, the ''Revue du souvenir napoléonien''.La Fondation Napoléon
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Structure

The officers of the ''Souvenir napoléonien'' are a President, an Honorary President, three Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and a Deputy Treasurer. The governing body is called the Steering Committee. There is also a General Secretary and an editor-in-chief of the magazine. In

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and abroad, delegates are tasked with the organization of venues and conferences. The delegations in France are as follows: Nord-Pas-de-Calais,

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

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 ...

and

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Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of the ...

, Lorraine,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, Loire Valley, Berry,

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

, Poitou-Charentes, Limousin-Quercy,

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

Lyonnais The Lyonnais () is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon. The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegratio ...

, Dauphiné-Savoie, Aquitaine,

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, Languedoc-Roussillon,

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. The delegations abroad are: Northern Italy,

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and Central Italy,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In addition, there are overseas correspondents for

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, Bogota,

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, and the

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Library

The Souvenir napoléonien has a library which was initially established with about five hundred books from the library of Baron Jean Thiry, bequeathed to the society by the historian's children. This library is constantly expanded by donations from the society's members and from authors and publishers, as well as by purchases, and is available for the use of members of the association and of students in a building at 82 rue de Monceau,

. The library contains the archive of the ''Revue du Souvenir napoléonien'' magazine, starting from issue number 233 of December 1967.

The ''Revue du Souvenir napoléonien''

Many historians, including

Thierry Lentz Thierry is a French male given name, derived from the Germanic " Theodoric". It is the cognate of German " Dietrich" and " Dieter", English Terry, Derek and Derrick, and of various forms in other European languages. It is also a surname. Peopl ...

, Michel Wilmot, Maurice Bernard-Catinat, Jacques-Olivier Boudon, and Jean Étèvenaux, have contributed to the society's magazine ''Revue du Souvenir napoléonien'' on topics relating to the Napoleonic era, from the Directoire to the

Notes and references

External links

*
napoleonica.org, Napoleonic archives from the ''Fondation Napoléon''

Internet site of the ''Fondation Napoléon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souvenir napoleonien French Revolution First French Empire Napoleonic Wars Second French Empire Historical societies of France Organizations established in 1937 Organizations based in Paris