The Fondation Napoléon (English: Napoleon Foundation) is a registered French

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

established on 12 November 1987. The foundation supports the study of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

and

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

. It also focuses on the French Directory and

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

, during which

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

played a key role as First Consul following the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup of 18 Brumaire () brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the Fr ...

Mission and activities

The Fondation Napoléon promotes research on the history of the

and

by awarding six research grants to both French and international PhD candidates annually. It also presents an annual history prize for works related to the two French empires. Additionally, the foundation supports academic conferences, bicentennial and sesquicentennial commemorations, Napoleonic book publishing, and the production of exhibition catalogues.

Save Longwood, Napoleon's house on St. Helena

The foundation launched an international appeal to save Napoleon's Longwood house on the island of

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

in December 2010. The funds collected were intended to pay for the restoration of the buildings in which Napoleon and his entourage lived in exile on St. Helena from 1815 to 1821. The appeal was supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Opposition to the removal of the statue of Napoleon in Rouen

In September 2020, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the mayor of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, sought to replace the statue of Napoleon with a statue or work of art dedicated to the recently deceased

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Gisèle Halimi, a proposal that Fondation Napoléon opposed. Later, in December 2021, the statue was registered as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' (''historic monument' in English).

Publication of the ''General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte''

In 2002, the Foundation launched a project in partnership with the French Archives Nationales, the French Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, and with the support of the Fondation La Poste, to publish the most complete version of the ''General Correspondence'' of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. In November 2011, Editions Fayard published Volume 8, which contains letters from the war in Spain in 1808. The project was completed in 2018 with the publication of the fifteenth and final volume. From 2020-2023, the Foundation digitised the fifteen volumes, alongside previously unpublished letters, and made them available to view online. The digital collection contains more than 40,000 letters.

Libraries, websites and e-review

Libraries

* The Napoleonic Digital Library provides downloadable e-texts (books, offprints, etc.) from 2010. * The Fondation Napoléon's library, the Bibliothèque Martial-Lapeyre, is open to the general public.

Websites

* napoleon.org was founded in 1996. * Napoleonica.org was founded in 1999.

E-review

*Napoleonica La Revue (founded in 2008) is a bilingual international peer-reviewed periodical of articles on the two Napoleonic empires.

Art and historical memorabilia collection

The Fondation Napoléon organises exhibitions of its collection of fine art and historical memorabilia, including in Paris (2004),

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil (2003),

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, Mexico (2005),

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, Germany (2006), and loans items from the collection to exhibitions worldwide.

Leadership

President: Victor-André Masséna (since 13 December 2005). Vice President: Nicolas Walewski.

References

External links

*
Napoleonica.org, the Fondation Napoléon's website of Napoleonic historical archival material

Website of the history society, the Souvenir Napoléonien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fondation Napoleon 1987 establishments in France Historical societies of France Non-profit organizations based in France Organizations established in 1987 Napoleonic era