Napoleon's penis was allegedly amputated during an autopsy shortly after his death in 1821. Since then it has passed through several owners, including A. S. W. Rosenbach, who exhibited it in New York City in 1927. It was purchased by John K. Lattimer in 1977, and is still owned in his family. It was described as resembling a "piece of leather or a small, shriveled eel".

History

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 ...

was exiled to

Saint 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 the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

after losing the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

. He died on the isle on May 5, 1821. After his death, an autopsy was conducted and some have claimed that François Carlo Antommarchi, the doctor conducting the autopsy, cut his penis off, along with several other body parts. It is unclear whether the cut was intentional or accidental. Some state that Antommarchi may have been bribed to cut it off by Napoleon's chaplain as revenge for Napoleon calling him "impotent". Napoleon's biographer, Philip Dwyer, calls the claim that Antommarchi cut off the penis "highly fanciful". The alleged penis passed into the possession of Napoleon's chaplain, who smuggled it out of St. Helena to his home on

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. It remained in the priest's family until 1916 when Maggs Bros. Ltd., a bookselling company based in London, purchased it. In 1924, A. S. W. Rosenbach, a Philadelphia-based bookseller, purchased it. The penis went on display in 1927 at New York City's

Museum of French Art The Museum of French Art was an art museum in New York City, associated with the predecessor organizations to the current New York non-profit French Institute Alliance Française. It exhibited art in New York as part of a broader effort to popular ...

. A reviewer present at the exhibition from ''Time'' described it as similar to a "maltreated strip of buckskin shoelace". Others present considered it to look like a "piece of leather or a shriveled eel". Rosenbach sold the item to a collector named Donald Hyde, whose wife gave it to John F. Fleming after Hyde's death. Fleming was a bookseller who had been close to Rosenbach. Another collector purchased it and attempted unsuccessfully to sell the penis at an auction through

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

. After the auction,

James Comyn Sir James Peter Comyn (8 March 1921 – 5 January 1997) was an Irish-born barrister and English High Court judge. The scion of a prominent Nationalist legal family, Comyn was sent to England after they fell out with Éamon de Valera. Considere ...

was reading an affidavit about Eric LeVine, a collector of items relating to Napoleon, and instead of calling the item a "penis" euphemistically referred to it as a "certain part". A

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

and artifact collector named John K. Lattimer purchased the item in 1977 for $3,000 (). His daughter, who inherited it upon his death, was offered at least $100,000 for it.

Characteristics

The preserved penis was described by Judith Pascoe in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "barely recognizable as a human body part" and its authenticity is unclear. A documentary that aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, ''Dead Famous DNA'', described it as "very small" and measured it to be . It is not known what size it was during Napoleon's lifetime. The item's current owner has allowed ten people to see it and it has never been recorded on camera.

References

{{Napoleon

Penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

Body parts of individual people Human penis Victims of body snatching