Joachim Napoléon Michel Murat, 6th Prince Murat (6 August 1885, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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– 11 May 1938, in Paris), was a member of the Bonaparte-

Murat Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal Elsew ...

family.

Biography

His parents were

Joachim, 5th Prince Murat Joachim Napoléon Murat, 5th Prince Murat (28 February 1856 – 2 November 1932) was a member of the House of Bonaparte, Bonaparte-Prince Murat, Murat family. Early life Joachim Napoléon Murat was born on 28 February 1856 at Boissy-Saint-Léger ...

and Marie Cécile Ney d'Elchingen, great-granddaughter of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

. As heir to the princely title of Murat, he used the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

Prince of Pontecorvo The Principality of Pontecorvo was a principality in Italy created by Napoleon after he became King of Italy in 1805. It consisted of the Italian commune of Pontecorvo, an exclave of the Papal States from 1463 within the territory of the Kingd ...

until he succeeded his father in 1932. In 1914 Murat served as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

of cavalry following the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He became an official interpreter to the General Headquarters of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(RFC), based at

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...

from August 1914 to November 1915. One of his British colleagues at St-Omer was

Maurice Baring Maurice Baring (27 April 1874 – 14 December 1945) was an English man of letters, known as a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist, and also as a travel writer and war correspondent, with particular knowledge of Russia. During Wo ...

, a lieutenant in the RFC, assistant to General David Henderson and later

Hugh Trenchard Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British military officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Fat ...

. Murat is frequently mentioned in Baring's memoirs.. He subsequently commanded the during the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

in 1916, where his conduct earned him the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

with three citations. After the war he was elected

député The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for the Lot in the

1919 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 16 and 30 November 1919, the first after World War I. Electoral system Proportional representation by department replaced the two-round system by arrondissements in use since 1889. However, a provis ...

of 16 November in Labastide-Murat.See also :fr:Liste des députés du Lot#XIIe législature (1919-1924) He was aligned with the National Bloc coalition, symbolised by the blue-grey uniforms ( Bleu Horizon r worn by the '

poilu Poilu (; ) is an informal term for a late 18th century–early 20th century French infantryman, meaning, literally, ''the hairy one''. It is still widely used as a term of endearment for the French infantry of World War I. The word carries the s ...

s' in the war. The coalition represented the conservative old soldiers and their desire to "make Germany pay". During this XIIth parliamentary session, he was a member of the Alsace-Lorraine commission r the Algerian commission and for the colonies and protectorates, the commission for the fr:French Merchant Navy, and that of Customs and National Conventions. During the session of 22 January 1920 he raised the matter of Léon Accambray r whose espionage for the Germans during World War I was only fully discovered in the 1960s. Although he was defeated in the

1924 elections Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * ''19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * ''Dician ...

and lost his seat, he continued to support the

Appel au peuple The Appel au peuple (Plebiscite) was a Bonapartist parliamentary group during the early years of the French Third Republic. They advocated a plebiscite by which the people would choose the form of government, which they assumed would be a revival ...

parliamentary group as the representative of Napoléon in the Bonapartiste movement. With interesting photo. He died in Paris on 11 May 1938.

Family life

On 13 December 1927, he married in

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

, Louise Amélie Plantié, daughter of Eugène Plantié,

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

, and granddaughter of Jean-Baptiste Plantié,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of Basses-Pyrénées. They had two children: # Joachim, 7th Prince Murat (1920–1944) (shot in 1944 while fighting for the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

) #Princess Caroline Murat (1921–2003)

Ancestry

References

External links

Descendants from the Napoléonic era during the Great War
(in French), with photo of Murat in uniform

French web search site
''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 ...

'' , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Joachim, 6th Prince Murat 1885 births 1938 deaths 19th-century French people Military personnel from Paris Politicians from Paris House of Bonaparte Murat family French military personnel of World War I French people of American descent Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Princes Murat Interpreters Members of the 12th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Appel au peuple