Captain William Charles Bonaparte-Wyse (20 January 1826 – 3 December 1892) was an Irish soldier and poet.

Early life

William Charles Bonaparte-Wyse was born in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, the son of the politician and educational reformer Sir

Thomas Wyse Sir Thomas Wyse (24 December 1791 – 16 April 1862), an Irish politician and diplomat, belonged to a family claiming descent from a Devon squire, Andrew Wyse, who is said to have crossed over to Ireland during the reign of Henry II and obt ...

, and Laetitia, daughter 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 ...

Career

Nicknamed ''lo felibre irlandés'', he wrote in Provençal, was a friend of

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel ...

, and became the only foreign member of the consistory of the

Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

, the Provençal cultural association. His collection ''Li Parpaioun Blu'' (The Blue Butterflies) was published in 1868, with a foreword by Mistral. He created the Provençal dish of dried

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s poached in

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

. Bonaparte-Wyse was appointed High Sheriff of County Waterford for 1855. He was commissioned Captain in the 9th Wiltshire Rifle Volunteer Corps in July 1866. He also served in the Waterford Artillery.

Personal life

He married in 1864, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Ellen Linzee Prout (1842–1925, niece of Servant of God Sister

Elizabeth Prout Elizabeth Prout, also known as Mother Mary Joseph of Jesus, (2 September 1820 – 11 January 1864) was the founder of the Catholic religious institute originally called the Institute of the Holy Family but known later as the Passionist Sisters or ...

), and they had four sons. He was the father of Permanent Secretary Andrew Nicholas Bonaparte-Wyse (1870–1940). His eldest son's godfather was Frédéric Mistral.

Death

He died, aged 66, in 1892, at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

, and is buried there in the

Cimetière du Grand Jas The Cimetière du Grand Jas (Grand Jas Cemetery) is located at 205 avenue de Grasse in Cannes on the French Riviera. The nine hectare terraced cemetery began operations in 1866 and is known for its landscaped architecture with rich floral decora ...

References

External links

Copy of ''Li Parpaioun Blu'' in Provençal and French, from the University of ProvenceBonaparte-Wyse Papers, Collection List No. 119, National Library of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaparte-Wyse, William Charles

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

1826 births 1892 deaths People from County Waterford Volunteer Force officers Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas High Sheriffs of County Waterford 19th-century Irish poets Irish people of French descent People of Corsican descent