Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 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 ...

, image_size=150px, alt=Coat of Arms of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, type= French

imperial family A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...

, country=

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930 ...

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

Kingdom of Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Empero ...

Kingdom of Naples

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

Principality of Elba The Principality of Elba ( it, Principato d'Elba) was a non-hereditary monarchy established by the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814. It lasted less than a year, and its only head was Napoleon Bonaparte, who would return to rule in Franc ...

Principality of Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

Flag of the Grand Duchy of Berg (1806-1808)

Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (german: Großherzogtum Berg), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories be ...

Flag of the Principality of Lucca (1805-1809)

Principality of Lucca and Piombino The Principality of Lucca and Piombino was created in July 1805 by Napoleon I for his beloved sister Elisa Bonaparte. It was a State located on the central Italian Peninsula (present-day Italy), reporting to the needs of Napoleonic France. Forma ...

, estates=, titles= *

Prince of Canino and Musignano The Princes of Canino and Musignano formed the genealogically senior line of the Bonaparte family following the death of Joseph Bonaparte in 1844. The line was succeeded by one of Emperor Napoleon's younger brothers, Lucien Bonaparte. It became e ...

*Prince of Montfort *

Duke of Guastalla This is a list of rulers of Guastalla, a town in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on the right bank of the Po River. The County of Guastalla was established in 1406 for the Torelli family. In 1456, the county was partitioned, with Montechiarugolo and Casei ...

*Count of Meudon *Count of Moncalieri * Prince of Parma * Prince-President of France *Noble

Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Duke of Reichstadt , house = Bonaparte , father = Napoleon I, Emperor of the French , mother = Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma , birth_date = , birth_place = Tuileries Palace, Paris, French Empire ...

*King of Rome *Count of Saint-Leu * Countess of Lipona *

Grand Constable of France The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chan ...

Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine was the title held by Napoleon, Emperor of the French, in his function as leader of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–1813). The term in French was ''Protecteur de la Confédération'', in German ' ...

, styles=

Imperial Majesty Imperial Majesty (''His/Her Imperial Majesty'', abbreviated as ''HIM'') is a style used by Emperors and Empresses. It distinguishes the status of an emperor/empress from that of a King/Queen, who are simply styled Majesty. Holders of this style h ...

(France)

Majesty Majesty (abbreviated HM for His Majesty or Her Majesty, oral address Your Majesty; from the Latin ''maiestas'', meaning "greatness") is used as a manner of address by many monarchs, usually kings or queens. Where used, the style outranks the st ...

(other Crowns), founded=, founder=

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 wh ...

, final ruler=

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, current head=Disputed:
, dissolution=, deposition=France:

Italy:

Spain:

Westphalia:

Elba:
, ethnicity= Corsican (originally

)
later French, cadet branches=, notes= The House of Bonaparte (originally ''Buonaparte'') is a former imperial and royal European

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

of Italian ( Genoese) origin. It was founded in 1804 by

, the son of Corsican nobleman

Carlo Buonaparte Carlo Maria Buonaparte or Charles-Marie Bonaparte (27 March 1746 – 24 February 1785) was a Corsican lawyer and diplomat, best known as the father of Napoleon Bonaparte and grandfather of Napoleon III. Buonaparte served briefly as a personal ...

and Letizia Buonaparte (née Ramolino). Napoleon was a French military leader who rose to power during 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and who, in 1804, transformed the First French Republic into the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

, five years after his ''coup d'état'' of November 1799 (18 Brumaire). Napoleon and the '' Grande Armée'' had to fight against every major European power (except for the ones he was allied with, including Denmark-Norway) and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He installed members of his family on the thrones of client states, expanding the power of the dynasty. The House of Bonaparte formed the Imperial House of France during the French Empire, together with some non-Bonaparte family members. In addition to holding the title of

Emperor of the French Emperor of the French (French: ''Empereur des Français'') was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First and the Second French Empires. Details A title and office used by the House of Bonaparte starting when Napoleon was procla ...

, the Bonaparte dynasty held various other titles and territories during the Napoleonic Wars, including the

, the

, and the Kingdom of Naples. The dynasty held power for around a decade until the Napoleonic Wars began to take their toll. Making very powerful enemies, such as

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, as well as royalist (particularly Bourbon) restorational movements in France, Spain, the

Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and all ...

, and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, the dynasty eventually collapsed due to the final defeat of Napoleon at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

and the restoration of former dynasties by the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

. During the reign of Napoleon I, the Imperial Family consisted of the Emperor's immediate relations – his wife, son, siblings, and some other close relatives, namely his brother-in-law

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

, his uncle

Joseph Fesch Joseph Fesch, Prince of France (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French priest and diplomat, who was the maternal half-uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte (half-brother of Napoleon's mother Laetitia). In the wake of his nephew, he became Archbishop ...

, and his stepson

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French nobleman, statesman, and military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marr ...

. Between 1852 and 1870, there was a

, when a member of the Bonaparte dynasty again ruled France:

, the youngest son of

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

. However, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the dynasty was again ousted from the Imperial Throne. Since that time, there has been a series of pretenders. Supporters of the Bonaparte family's claim to the throne of France are known as

Bonapartists Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

. Current head

Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, Prince of Montfort (birth name: ''Jean-Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Napoléon''; born 11 July 1986, France) is the head of the former Imperial House of France, and heir of Napoleon Bonaparte, the First ...

, has a Bourbon mother.

Italian origins

The Bonaparte (originally it, Buonaparte) family were

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

in the Italian towns of

Sarzana Sarzana (, ; lij, Sarzann-a) is a town, '' comune'' (municipality) and former short-lived Catholic bishopric in the Province of La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. It is east of Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parm ...

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of Egol ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. The name derives from

: ''buona'' ("good") and ''parte'' ("part" or "side"). In Italian, the phrase "buona parte" is used to identify a fraction of considerable, but undefined, size in a . Gianfaldo Buonaparte was the first known Buonaparte at Sarzana around 1200. His descendant Giovanni Buonaparte in 1397 married Isabella Calandrini, a cousin of later cardinal

Filippo Calandrini Filippo Calandrini (1403 – 18 July 1476) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and half-brother of Pope Nicholas V. Biography He was born in 1403 in Genoese Sarzana (now in the region of Liguria), a town located in ancient Lunigiana, a key b ...

. Giovanni became mayor of Sarzana and was named commissioner of the

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () is a historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no long ...

Giovanni Maria Visconti Gian Maria Visconti (or Giovanni Maria; 7 September 1388 – 16 May 1412) was the second Visconti Duke of Milan, the son of Gian Galeazzo Visconti and Caterina Visconti. He was known to be cruel and was eventually assassinated. He had no children ...

in 1408. His daughter, Agnella Berni, was the great-grandmother of Italian poet

Francesco Berni Francesco Berni Francesco Berni (1497/98 – 26 May 1535) was an Italian poet. He is credited for beginning what is now known as " Bernesque poetry", a serio-comedic type of poetry with elements of satire. Biography Life Berni was born 1497 o ...

and their great-grandson Francesco Buonaparte was an equestrian

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...

at the service of the Genoese

Bank of Saint George The Bank of Saint George ( it, Casa delle compere e dei banchi di San Giorgio or informally as ''Ufficio di San Giorgio'' or ''Banco'') was a financial institution of the Republic of Genoa. It was founded in 1407 to consolidate the public debt ...

. In 1490, Francesco Buonaparte went to the island of Corsica, which was controlled by the bank. In 1493, he married the daughter of Guido da Castelletto, representative of the Bank of Saint George in Ajaccio, Corsica. Most of their descendants during subsequent generations were members of the Ajaccio town council. Napoleon's father,

, received a

patent of nobility Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

from the King of France in 1771. There also existed a Buonaparte family in

; however, its eventual relation with the Sarzana and San Miniato families is unknown. Jacopo Buonaparte of San Miniato was a friend and advisor to

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

. Jacopo was also a witness to and wrote an account of the sack of Rome, which is one of the most important historical documents recounting that event. Two of Jacopo's nephews, Pier Antonio Buonaparte and Giovanni Buonaparte, however, took part in the 1527 Medici rebellion, after which they were banished from Florence and later were restored by

Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

. Jacopo's brother Benedetto Buonaparte maintained political neutrality. The San Miniato branch extinguished with Jacopo in 1550. The last member of the Florence family was a canon named Gregorio Bonaparte, who died in 1803, leaving Napoleon as heir. A Buonaparte tomb lies in the Church of San Francesco in San Miniato. A second tomb, the ''Chapelle Impériale'', was built by Napoleon III in Ajaccio 1857. Blason fam fr Bonaparte ornamented.svg, Coat of arms of the Buonaparte of Sarzana Coat of arms of th Bonaparte family in San Miniato.svg, Coat of arms of the Buonaparte of San Miniato Blason fam it Firenze Santa Maria Novella.svg, Coat of arms of the Buonaparte of Florence

Imperial House of France

is the most prominent name associated with the Bonaparte family because he conquered much of Europe during the early 19th century. Due to his indisputable popularity in France both among the people and in the army, he staged the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless '' coup d'état'' ...

and overthrew the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

with the help of his brother

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 ...

, president of the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...

. Napoleon then oversaw the creation of a new Constitution that made him the First Consul of France on 10 November 1799. On 2 December 1804, he crowned himself

and ruled from 1804 to 1814, and again in 1815 during the Hundred Days after his return from Elba. Following his conquest of most of Western Europe, Napoleon I made his elder brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

king first of Naples and then of Spain, his younger brother

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

King of Holland The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

(subsequently forcing his abdication in 1810 after his failure to subordinate Dutch interests to those of France), and his youngest brother Jérôme King 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 ...

, a short-lived realm created from several states of northwestern Germany. Napoleon's son Napoléon François Charles Joseph was created King of Rome and was later styled as Napoléon II by loyalists of the dynasty, though he only ruled for two weeks after his father's abdication. Louis-Napoléon, son of Louis, was President of France and then Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870, reigning as

. His son, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, died fighting the Zulus in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, today the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. With his death, the family lost much of its remaining political appeal, though claimants continue to assert their right to the imperial title. A political movement for Corsican independence surfaced in the 1990s which included a Bonapartist restoration in its programme.

Crowns held by the family

Emperors of the French

(1804–1814, 1815), also

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

(1805–1814) and Emperor in Elba (1814–1815) and Co-Prince of Andorra (1804–1814, 1815) * Napoleon II (1815), styled as King of Rome from birth, but never reigned and also

Duke of Reichstadt , house = Bonaparte , father = Napoleon I, Emperor of the French , mother = Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma , birth_date = , birth_place = Tuileries Palace, Paris, French Empire ...

1818–1832, but never visited the town *

(1852–1870), also Co-Prince of Andorra (1852–1870)

Kings of Holland

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ...

(1806–1810) * Louis II (1810), also Grand Duke of Berg (1809–1813)

King of Naples

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 * Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

(1806–1808)

King of Westphalia

* Jérôme I (1807–1813)

King of Spain

(1808–1813)

Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Elisa Bonaparte Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy (French: ''Marie Anne Elisa Bonaparte''; 3 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), better known as Elisa Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was Princess of Lucca ...

(1809–1814), also Princess of Lucca and Piombino (1805–1814)

Heads of the House of Bonaparte (since 1852)

* Napoléon III (1852–1873) * Napoléon IV Eugène (1873–1879), son of Napoléon III * Napoléon V Victor (1879–1926), grandson of Napoléon I's youngest brother, Jérôme Bonaparte * Napoléon VI Louis (1926–1997), son of Napoléon V Victor Disputed since 1997: * Napoléon VII Charles (1997–present), son of Napoléon VI Louis * Napoléon VII Jean-Christophe (1997–present), grandson of Napoléon VI Louis

The family tree

''Note: Bold for common names''
Carlo-Maria ( Ajaccio, 1746– Montpellier, 1785) married

Maria Letizia Ramolino Maria-Letizia Buonaparte ( née Ramolino; 24 August 1750 (or 1749) – 2 February 1836), known as Letizia Bonaparte, was a Corsican noblewoman, mother of Napoleon I of France. She became known as “” after the proclamation of the Empire. ...

(Ajaccio, 1750–Rome, 1836) in 1764. He was a minor official in the local courts. They had eight children: # Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte ( Corte, 1768–

, 1844), King of Naples, then King of Spain, married

Julie Clary Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771 – 7 April 1845), was Queen of Naples, then of Spain and the Indies, as the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, who was King of Naples from January 1806 to June 1808, and later King of Spain and the Spanish West Ind ...

. #*Julie Joséphine Bonaparte (1796–1796) #*

Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte Zenaida (Greek name meaning "Life of Zeus.") Zenaide (Italian), Zénaïde (French), or Zinaida (russian: Зинаида). ...

(1801–1854) #*

Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (31 October 1802 – 2 March 1839) was the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, the older brother of Emperor Napoleon I, and Julie Clary. She was active as an artist. Life After the fall of her uncle Emperor Napoleon in ...

(1802–1839) # Napoléon (I) Bonaparte (1769–1821) Emperor of the French: Married (i) Joséphine de Beauharnais; no issue. Adopted Eugène and

Hortense de Beauharnais Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Hortense later married Napol ...

. Married (ii)

Marie Louise of Austria Marie Louise (12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847) was an Austrian archduchess who reigned as Duchess of Parma from 11 April 1814 until her death. She was Napoleon's second wife and as such Empress of the French and Queen of Italy from their ...

; #* Napoléon (II) François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811–1832), Prince Imperial, King of Rome, Prince of Parma, son of Archduchess

(of the Habsburg dynasty), Empress consort, then Duchess of Parma # Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840) Roman

#*3 daughters with first wife,

Christine Boyer Catherine Christine Eléonore Boyer (3 July 1771 – 14 May 1800) was a member of the Bonaparte family as the first wife of Lucien Bonaparte, a younger brother of Napoleon. Life Born in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, France, Boyer was the daught ...

: #** Charlotte Philistine Bonaparte (1795–1865), married Prince Mario Gabrielli #**Victoire Gertrude Bonaparte (1797–1797) #**Christine Charlotte Alexandrine Egypta Bonaparte (1798–1847), married Count Arvid Posse, then married Lord Dudley Stuart #*10 children with second wife,

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, ...

: #** Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (1803–1857), ornithologist and politician married Princess Zénaïde Bonaparte (1801–1854) #*** Joseph Lucien Charles Napoléon Bonaparte (1824–1865) #***Alexandrine Gertrude Zénaïde Bonaparte (1826–1828) #*** Lucien Louis Joseph Napoléon (Cardinal) Bonaparte (1828–1895) #***Julie Charlotte Pauline Zénaïde Laetitia Désirée Bartholomée Bonaparte (1830–1900) #***Charlotte Honorine Joséphine Pauline Bonaparte (1832–1901) #***Léonie Stéphanie Elise Bonaparte (1833–1839) #***Marie Désirée Eugénie Joséphine Philomène Bonaparte (1835–1890) #*** Augusta Amélie Maximilienne Jacqueline Bonaparte (1836–1900) #*** Napoléon Charles Grégoire Jacques Philippe Bonaparte (1839–1899) #****Zénaïde Victoire Eugénie Bonaparte (1860–1862) #**** Marie Léonie Eugénie Mathilde Jeanne Julie Zénaïde Bonaparte (1870–1947) #**** Eugénie Laetitia Barbe Caroline Lucienne Marie Jeanne Bonaparte (1872–1949) #***Bathilde Aloïse Léonie Bonaparte (1840–1861) #***Albertine Marie Thérèse Bonaparte (1842–1842) #***Charles Albert Edmond Bonaparte (1843–1847) #**Laetitia Christine Bonaparte (1804–1871) #**Joseph Lucien Bonaparte (1806–1807) #**Jeanne Adélaïde Bonaparte (1807–1829) #** Paul Marie Bonaparte (1808–1827) #**

Louis Lucien Bonaparte Louis Lucien Bonaparte (4 January 1813 – 3 November 1891) was a French philologist. The third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte, he spent much of his life outside France for political reasons. After a brief politica ...

(1813–1891) #** Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte (1815–1881) married Éléonore-Justine Ruflin #*** Roland Bonaparte (1858–1924) married Marie-Félix Blanc #****

Princess Marie Bonaparte Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity o ...

(1882–1962) married

Prince George of Greece Prince George of Greece and Denmark ( el, Γεώργιος; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of h ...

#***Princess Jeanne Bonaparte (1861–1910) #**Antoine Lucien Bonaparte (1816–1877) #**Alexandrine Marie Bonaparte (1818–1874) #**Constance Marie Bonaparte (1823–1876) # Maria-Anna Elisa Bonaparte (1777–1820), Grand-Duchess of

, married Felice Baciocchi, Prince of Lucca #* Marie-Laetitia Bonaparte Baciocchi # Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1778–1846), King of Holland, married

, Napoleon's stepdaughter #* Napoléon Charles Bonaparte (1802–1807) #* Napoléon Louis Bonaparte (1804–1831) #* Charles Louis Napoléon (III) Bonaparte (1808–1873) Emperor of the French, married Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick #** Napoléon Eugène Louis John Joseph Bonaparte, Prince Imperial (1856–1879) #Maria Paola or Marie Pauline Bonaparte (1780–1825) Princess and Duchess of Guastalla, married in 1797 to French General

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver, currently racing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He won the GP3 Series championship in 2016 and the FIA Formula 2 Championship in . Leclerc ...

and later married

Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona '' Don'' Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese, Prince of Sulmona and of Rossano, Duke and Prince of Guastalla (19 July 1775 – 9 May 1832) was a member of the Borghese family, best known for being a brother-in-law of Napoleon. Borghese married N ...

. # Maria Annunziata Caroline Bonaparte (1782–1839) married

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

, Grand Duke of Berg, then King of Naples #*

Prince Achille Murat Charles Louis Napoleon Achille Murat (known as Achille, 21 January 1801 – 15 April 1847) was the eldest son of Joachim Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon who was appointed King of Naples during the First French Empire. After his father was de ...

(1801–1847), married

Catherine Willis Gray Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray Murat (August 17, 1803 – August 6, 1867) was an American socialite and preservationist. In 1858, she was appointed the first vice regent for Florida by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Together with El ...

(1803–1867), great-grandniece of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

. #* Prince Napoléon Lucien Charles Murat (1803–1878), married Caroline Georgina Fraser (1810–1879). #**5 Children, including: #** ''Joachim'' Joseph Napoléon Murat, 4th Prince Murat (1834–1901),

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

, married firstly Malcy Louise Caroline Berthier de Wagram (1832–1884) and had issue, and secondly Lydia Hervey, without issue. #** Prince Louis Napoléon Murat (1851–1912), married in Odessa, Eudoxia Mikhailovna Somova (1850–1924), had issue now extinct in male line. # Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia #*1 child from first marriage, to Betsy Patterson of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

: #** Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (1805–1870), married Susan May Williams and had 2 sons : #*** Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II (1830–1893), married Caroline Le Roy Appleton Edgar #****Louise-Eugénie Bonaparte (1873–1923), married in 1896 Count Adam Carl von Moltke-Huitfeld (1864–1944); numerous descendants #****Jerome Napoléon Charles Bonaparte III (1878–1945), married Blanche Pierce Stenbeigh, no issue #*** Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851–1921),

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

and

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

, married Ellen Channing Day, no issue #*3 children from second marriage, to Princess

Catharina of Württemberg Princess Katharina Friederike of Württemberg (21 February 1783 – 29 November 1835) was Queen consort of Westphalia by marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813. Life Katharina was born in Saint P ...

: #** Jérôme Napoléon Charles Bonaparte I (1814–1847), unmarried and childless #** Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte (1820–1904), married Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato: no issue #** Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte, Prince Napoléon (1822–1891), called ''Plon-Plon'' married Princess Marie Clothilde of Savoy daughter of

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy en, Victor Emmanuel Maria Albert Eugene Ferdinand Thomas , house = Savoy , father = Charles Albert of Sardinia , mother = Maria Theresa of Austria , religion = Roman Catholicism , image_size = 252px , succession1 ...

#*** Napoléon Victor Jérôme Frédéric Bonaparte, Prince Napoléon (1862–1926) married

Princess Clémentine of Belgium , title = Princess Napoléon , image = Clementine of Belgium.jpg , image_size = 250px , caption = Princess Clementine, ca. 1895. , birth_date = , birth_place = Palace of Laeken, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = C ...

#**** Marie Clotilde Eugénie Alberte Laetitia Geneviève Bonaparte (1912–1996) married Count Serge de Witt #**** Louis Jérôme Victor Emmanuel Léopold Marie Bonaparte, Prince Napoléon (1914–1997), married Alix de Foresta #***** Charles Marie Jérôme Victor Bonaparte, Prince Napoléon (born 1950) #******Two children from first marriage, to

Princess Béatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Princess Béatrice Marie Caroline Louise Françoise of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 16 June 1950 in Saint-Raphaël, Var, France) is the eldest daughter of Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Castro, Castro-line claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbo ...

: #*******Caroline Marie Constance Bonaparte (Princess Caroline Napoléon) (born 1980) #******* Jean-Christophe Louis Ferdinand Albéric Bonaparte, Prince Napoléon (born 1986) married Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg #******1 child and 1 adopted child from second marriage, to Jeanne-Françoise Valliccioni: #*******Sophie Catherine Bonaparte (born 1992) #*******Anh Laëtitia Bonaparte (born 1998, adopted) #*****Catherine Elisabeth Albérique Marie Bonaparte (born 1950) #*****Laure Clémentine Geneviève Bonaparte (born 1952) #*****Jérôme Xavier Marie Joseph Victor Bonaparte (Prince Jérôme Napoléon) (born 1957), married in 2013 with Licia Innocenti #*** Napoléon Louis Joseph Jérôme Bonaparte (1864–1932) Russian General, unmarried and childless #*** Marie Laetitia Eugénie Catherine Adélaïde Bonaparte (1866–1926) married Prince Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta

Bonaparte arms

The arms of the Bonaparte family were: ''Gules two bends sinister between two mullets or''. In 1804, Napoleon I changed the arms to ''Azure an imperial eagle or''. The change applied to all members of his family except for his brother Lucien and his nephew, the son from Jerome's first marriage. File:Blason fam fr Bonaparte ornamented.svg, Arms of Charles-Maria Buonaparte. File:Coat of Arms of Lucien Bonaparte, Roman Prince of Canino.svg, Arms of

. File:Grandes Armes Impériales (1804-1815)2.svg, Arms of

and Napoleon II, as

. File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814).svg, Arms of Napoleon I and Napoleon II, as

Kings of Italy Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Naples.svg, Arms of

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

, as

King of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou In 1382, the Kin ...

. File:Grand Coat of Arms of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain2.svg, Arms of Joseph Bonaparte, as King of Spain. File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Holland (1808).svg, Arms of

. File:Grandes Armes Jérôme Bonaparte (1784-1860) 2.svg, Arms of Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.

DNA research

According to studies by G. Lucotte and his coauthors based on DNA research since 2011,

belonged to

Y-DNA The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

(direct male ancestry) haplogroup E1b1b1c1* (E-M34*). This 15000-year-old haplogroup has its highest concentration in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and in the Near East (Jordan, Yemen). According to the authors of the study, "Probably Napoléon also knew his remote oriental patrilineal origins, because Francesco Buonaparte (the Giovanni son), who was a mercenary under the orders of the Genoa Republic in Ajaccio in 1490, was nicknamed ''The

Maure A Moor's head, since the 11th century, is a symbol depicting the head of a black moor. Origin The precise origin of the Moor's head is a subject of controversy. But the most likely explanation is that it is derived from the heraldic war flag ...

of Sarzane''." The latest study identifies the common Bonaparte DNA markers from Carlo (Charles) Bonaparte to 3 living descendants. Lucotte et al. published in October 2013 the extended Y-STR of Napoleon I based on descendant testing, and the descendants were E-M34, just like the emperor's beard hair tested a year before. The persons tested were the patrilineal descendants of Jérome Bonaparte, one of Napoleon's brothers, and of

Alexandre Colonna-Walewski Alexandre Florian Joseph, Count Colonna-Walewski (; pl, Aleksander Florian Józef Colonna-Walewski; 4 May 181027 September 1868), was a Polish and French politician and diplomat, best known for his position as Foreign Minister of France under N ...

, Napoleon's illegitimate son with Marie Walewska. These three tests all yielded the same Y-STR haplotype (109 markers) confirming with 100% certainty that the first Emperor of the French belonged to the M34 branch of haplogroup E1b1b. STR strongly suggests that the Bonaparte belong to the Y58897 branch, which means that the ancestor 3000 years ago or a bit more lived in Anatolia, but all relatives in the database with a common ancestor with over a 1000 years are found in their own the Massa - La Spezia small area in Italy. There are at the moment no relatives in the database older than that, which means they are very rare in Europe.

Living members

Charles, Prince Napoléon Charles, Prince Napoléon (''Charles Marie Jérôme Victor Napoléon''; born 19 October 1950 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is a French politician, who is the disputed head of the Imperial House of France and as such, heir to the rights and le ...

(born 1950, great-great-grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte by his second marriage), and his son

(born 1986 and appointed heir in the will of his grandfather

Louis, Prince Napoléon Louis, Prince Napoléon (''Louis Jérôme Victor Emmanuel Léopold Marie''; 23 January 1914 – 3 May 1997) was a member of the Bonaparte dynasty. He was the pretender to the Imperial throne of France, as Napoléon VI, from 3 May 1926 until his ...

) currently dispute the headship of the Bonaparte family. The only other male members of the family are Charles's recently married (2013) brother, Prince Jérôme Napoléon (born 1957) and Jean-Christophe's son, Prince Louis Napoléon (born 2022). There are no other legitimate descendants in the male line from Napoleon I or from his brothers. There are, however, numerous descendants of Napoleon's illegitimate but unacknowledged son, Count

(1810–1868), born from Napoleon I's union with Marie, Countess Walewski. A descendant of Napoleon's sister

Caroline Bonaparte Carolina Maria Annunziata Bonaparte Murat Macdonald (French: ''Caroline Marie Annonciade Bonaparte''; 25 March 1782 – 18 May 1839), better known as Caroline Bonaparte, was an Imperial French princess; the seventh child and third daughter of Ca ...

was actor

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony A ...

. Recent DNA-matches with living descendants of Jérôme and Count Walewski have confirmed the existence of descendants of

, Napoleon's brother, namely the Clovis family. Image:Nap-receis 50.jpg, Napoleon II - Napoleon I's only legitimate child. Portrait by Moritz Daffinger File:Charles, comte Léon.jpg, Charles, Count Léon (1806–1881), son of Napoleon I File:Comte Walewski Congrès de Paris 1856 BNF Gallica.jpg, Comte Walewski (1856) Napoleon I's unacknowledged son File:Pierson - Jérôme Bonaparte.jpg, Jérôme Bonaparte, founder of the surviving legitimate Bonapartist line of succession

Footnotes

References

External links

*
The coat of arms of the Tuscan branch of Bonaparte family in State Archives of Florence
* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaparte, House Of Roman Catholic families Italian nobility