Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess of San Donato (27 May 1820 – 2 January 1904), was a French princess and

salonnière A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...

. She was a daughter of

Napoleon 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 ...

's brother

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...

and his second wife,

Catharina of Württemberg Princess Katharina of Württemberg (full name: Friederike Katharina Sophie Dorothea; 21 February 1783 – 29 November 1835) was Queen of Westphalia by marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813. L ...

, daughter of

King Frederick I of Württemberg King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

Biography

Born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

on 27 May 1820, Mathilde Bonaparte was raised in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. She was originally engaged to her first cousin, the future

Napoleon III of France 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 a series of m ...

, but the engagement was cancelled following his imprisonment at

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

. She married a rich

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

nobleman,

Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato (; 5 April OS: 24 March 1813 – 29 April 1870) was a Russian industrialist, diplomat, active state councillor, and arts patron of the Demidov family. Early life Born in Saint Petersburg ...

, on 1 November 1840 in Rome. Anatole was raised to the position of ''Prince'' by

Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany Leopold II, , English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1824 to 1859. He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Mari ...

shortly before the wedding to fulfill the wishes of Mathilde's father and to preserve Mathilde's position as ''Princess''. Anatole's princely title was never recognised in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. They had no children. The marriage between these two strong and prominent personalities was stormy. Prince Demidov insisted on keeping his mistress, Valentine, Duchess of Dino, which of course was fiercely resisted by Mathilde. In 1846, Mathilde fled the household for Paris with her new lover

Émilien de Nieuwerkerke Émilien is a French masculine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from ...

and with Anatole's jewelry. The jewelry constituted the

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

that Anatole was forced to bankroll for his father-in-law, so it formed the property of Anatole. Princess Mathilde's mother was Emperor Nicholas I of Russia's first cousin, and the emperor supported Mathilde in her clashes with her spouse, a Russian subject. As consequence, Anatole chose to live much of his remaining life outside Russia. The terms of the separation announced by the Tribunal in Saint Petersburg forced Anatole to pay annual

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...

of 200,000 French

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

s. Anatole vigorously pursued the return of his property, which led Mathilde and her strong circle of literary friends to mount highly personal and unfair counter-attacks using the public media. In the end, Anatole's heirs never recovered his property since Mathilde's

last will A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distribut ...

was altered towards the end of her life. Salon Princesse Mathilde - Rue de Courcelles

Princess Mathilde lived in a mansion 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 ...

, where, as a prominent member of the new aristocracy during and after the

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 ...

, she entertained eminent men of arts and letters at her salon. She disliked etiquette, but welcomed her visitors, according to Abel Hermant, with an extreme refinement of snobbery and politeness.

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

was employed as her librarian in 1868. Referring to her uncle, Emperor Napoleon I, she once told

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

: "If it weren't for him, I'd be selling oranges in the streets of

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

." At the fall of the monarchy in 1870, she lived in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

for a while, but soon returned to Paris. Throughout her time in France, she maintained ties with the Imperial court in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, her maternal cousins. In 1873, following the death of Prince Demidov in 1870, she married the artist and poet Claudius Marcel Popelin (1825–1892). She was the only member of the

Bonaparte family The House of Bonaparte (originally ''Buonaparte'') is a former imperial and royal European dynasty of French and Italian origin. It was founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, the son of Corsican nobleman Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Buonaparte (née ...

to stay in France after May 1886, when the French Republic expelled the princes of the former ruling dynasties. In 1896, she was invited to a ceremony at

Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old sold ...

Félix Faure Félix François Faure (; 30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899) was President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Seine- ...

at a visit of Emperor Nicholas II Russia and his wife Empress Alexandra. She died in Paris on 2 January 1904 aged 83.

In culture

An aged Princess Mathilde makes a brief appearance in Proust's ''À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs'' (''In the Shadow of Young Girls In Flower''), the second volume of ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

''. She mentions that if she wants to visit

les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

, she does not need an invitation: she has her own set of keys. Princess Mathilde is referred to several times in

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

's novel ''

1876 Events January * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. *January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts. February * Febr ...

'' as being a friend of the fictional narrator, Charles Schermerhorn Schuyler. She is also mentioned by the Portuguese romantic realist Eça de Queiroz in one of his most relevant posthumous novels To the Capital.

Ancestry

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaparte, Mathilde 1820 births 1904 deaths French salon-holders Socialites from Paris Nobility from Trieste

Mathilde Bonaparte Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess of San Donato (27 May 1820 – 2 January 1904), was a French princess and salonnière. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catha ...

Daughters of kings