Letizia Bonaparte

"Maria-Letizia Bonaparte" redirects here. For the Duchess of Aosta, see Maria Letizia Bonaparte, Duchess of Aosta.

Letizia Bonaparte
Mother of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor
Letizia Bonaparte (Madame Mère) by Robert Lefèvre, c. 1813
Born	Maria-Letizia Ramolino 24 August 1750 (or 1749) Ajaccio, Corsica, Republic of Genoa
Died	(1836-02-02)2 February 1836 (aged 85 or 86) Rome, Papal States
Burial	Imperial Chapel, Ajaccio, France
Spouse	Carlo Buonaparte ​ ​ (m. 1764; died 1785)​
Issue Detail	Joseph, King of Spain Napoleon I, Emperor of the French Lucien, Prince of Canino and Musignano Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany Louis I, King of Holland Pauline, Princess of Guastalla Caroline, Queen of Naples Jérôme, King of Westphalia
House	Bonaparte
Father	Giovanni Geronimo Ramolino
Mother	Angela Maria Pietrasanta

Maria-Letizia Bonaparte (née Ramolino; 24 August 1750 or 1749 – 2 February 1836), commonly known as Letizia Bonaparte, was a Corsican noblewoman and the mother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. Due to her status as the Emperor's mother, she was granted the title "Madame Mère" (French for "Madame Mother").

Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, then part of the Republic of Genoa, she married Carlo Buonaparte in 1764. The couple had thirteen children, of whom eight survived to adulthood. Following her husband's death in 1785, she relocated to mainland France, where her son Napoleon emerged as a key figure during the French Revolution. Throughout the rise and reign of the First French Empire, she held a significant, albeit informal, position within French society. After Napoleon's abdication in 1815, Letizia spent her later years in Rome under the protection of Pope Pius VII, maintaining a secluded existence until until her death in 1836.

Early life

Coat of arms of Letizia Ramolino

Maria-Letizia Ramolino was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, then part of the Republic of Genoa. She was the daughter of Giovanni Geronimo Ramolino, an army officer specialising in civil engineering who commanded the Ajaccio garrison, and Angela Maria Pietra-Santa.

The Ramolino family, originally from Lombardy, had been established in Corsica for approximately 250 years and was recognised as part of the Italian nobility. She was educated at home, with instruction primarily focused on domestic skills, as was customary for Corsican women of the period. Following her father's death, her mother remarried in 1757 to Franz Fesch, a Swiss officer in the Genoese navy stationed in Ajaccio. The marriage produced two children, including her half brother the future Cardinal Joseph Fesch.

Marriage and children

Carlo Bonaparte and his wife, Letizia Ramolino

On 2 June 1764, at the age of 14, Letizia married Carlo Buonaparte, an 18-year-old law student from Ajaccio. The Buonaparte family, part of the Corsican nobility, traced its origins to Tuscany in the early sixteenth century. Carlo, initially studying law at University of Pisa, chose not to complete his degree and instead married Letizia.

Letizia gave birth to thirteen children, of whom eight survived. Her firstborn, a son named Napoleon, was born in 1765 but died shortly after birth. A daughter followed but did not survive. During this period, Carlo travelled to Rome, where he remained for two years. Upon his return, he aligned himself with the Corsican republican leader Pasquale Paoli, serving as his part-time secretary. During this period, Letizia later gave birth to Joseph Bonaparte (born Giuseppe) on 7 January 1768.

In 1768, when Genoa formally ceded Corsica to France, Paoli led an armed resistance against the new administration. Carlo and Letizia, then aged 19 and pregnant with the future Napoleon, fled with Paoli's insurgents into the mountains near Corte. Letizia accompanied her husband during the conflict. Following Paoli's defeat in May 1769, the couple returned to Ajaccio.

On the feast of the Assumption, while attending Mass at Ajaccio Cathedral, Letizia went into labour. According to legend, she gave birth at home on a carpet in the living room, which depicted battle scenes from the Iliad and Odyssey. The child was named Napoleon, after an uncle who had died the previous year. As Letizia struggled to produce milk, she employed Camilla Llati as a wet nurse. The household had only one servant, Mammuccia Caterina, who lived with the family without wages and served as midwife during Napoleon's birth. During this time, Letizia managed all household tasks while Mammuccia cared for the children.

Letizia and Carlo developed ties with the island's new military governor, Charles Réné, Comte de Marbeuf and the intendant, Claude-François Bertrand de Boucheporn, whose wife became the godmother of their son Louis. In 1777, Marbeuf secured Carlo's election as a deputy representing Corsica at Versailles. In 1778, Carlo took Joseph and Napoleon to mainland France for their education at the Collège d'Autun. The following year, in May 1779, after securing a certificate of nobility, nine-year-old Napoleon was admitted to the Brienne military school on a scholarship.

Letizia remained in Ajaccio, bearing six more children, Lucien in 1775, Elisa in 1777, Louis in 1778, Pauline in 1780, Caroline in 1782 and in 1784 Jérôme. She visited Napoleon at Brienne in 1784, despite the school's strict policy prohibiting boys from leaving the grounds for six years and limiting parental visits. In 1784 he entered the École militaire in Paris. He graduated a year later as a second lieutenant assigned to the artillery regiment of la Frère in Valence.

1785–1804

On 24 February 1785, Letizia Bonaparte was widowed at the age of 35 when her husband, Carlo, died of stomach cancer, leaving her responsible for eight children. As the eldest son, Joseph assumed the role of head of the family and returned to Corsica after completing his studies at Collège d'Autun. In September 1786, Napoleon returned to Ajaccio after eight years away, serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Army. He remained there until September. The family's financial situation deteriorated, leaving Letizia to provide for her younger children while struggling to pay for Jérôme and Joseph's education. Napoleon returned home in early 1788, taking a leave of absence until June to assist her as the family's primary provider. By September 1789, he had returned once more and, alongside Joseph, became involved in Corsican politics.

In 1793, after Napoleon broke with Pasquale Paoli, Letizia and her children fled Corsica on 31 May as Paoli's partisans pillaged and burned their home. The family resettled in Toulon during the height of the Reign of Terror. To avoid suspicion as aristocrats, Letizia and her daughters were described as "dressmakers" in the passports provided by Napoleon. When the Royal Navy captured Toulon a month later, the family relocated to Marseilles, where Letizia, now penniless, depended on soup kitchens, with Napoleon's officer's salary being their only source of income.

Portrait of Letizia Bonaparte by François Gérard, c. 1803

In the spring of 1794, after Napoleon's first major victory as an artillery commander at the siege of Toulon, his promotion to General de Brigade allowed him to improve the family's circumstances. He moved Letizia and her children to the Château Salé in Antibes. While she took pride in her son's success, she strongly disapproved of his marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais, which took place on 9 March 1796 without her knowledge or consent.

When Joseph was appointed ambassador to the Papacy on 14 May 1796, Letizia accompanied him to Italy. Following Napoleon's successful First Italian Campaign, she visited him in Milan on 1 June 1797, accompanied by Caroline and Jérôme. She later returned to Ajaccio, settling back in Casa Buonaparte, which had been rebuilt and renovated in her absence. Napoleon granted Letizia and Cardinal Fesch some authority over Corsican affairs, instructing the prefect not to make appointments without their consultation.

On 28 September 1799, while returning from his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon visited Letizia in Ajaccio. Shortly after, on 7 October 1799, he departed for Fréjus, where he orchestrated the coup of 18 Brumaire, marking his seizure of power. With his ascension, Letizia relocated to Paris, establishing herself in the city while maintaining her customary modest lifestyle, despite now being the mother of the First Consul. She was granted a pension of 25,000 francs per month.

On the evening of 10 November 1799, while attending the theatre with her daughters, the performance was interrupted by an announcement of an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Letizia remained composed, leaving only at the end of the play. A rift developed within the family when in 1803 Lucien Bonaparte married Alexandrine de Bleschamp (Madame Jouberthon) against Napoleon's wishes. Letizia supported Lucien, leading her to leave Paris for Rome, where she joined Pauline, now Princess Borghese, and took up residence with Cardinal Fesch. Lucien and his family followed her soon after.

Mother of the Emperor

Portrait of Letizia Bonaparte by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1811.

While Napoleon had granted his siblings the rank of imperial highness, with the exception of Lucien and Jérôme, Letizia initially held no formal title. In July 1804, Cardinal Fesch wrote to Napoleon, suggesting that she be granted one. By decree, she received the title "Madame," a designation traditionally used for the daughters of the king, but to distinguish her status, the phrase "Mother of His Majesty the Emperor" was added. From then on, she was referred to as "Madame Mère" (Madame Mother).

On 2 December 1804, when Napoleon was crowned emperor, Letizia did not attend the coronation ceremony, despite being depicted in Jacques-Louis David’s famous painting, The Coronation of Napoleon. When congratulated on her son's successes, she reportedly remarked, Pourvu que ça dure! ("Let’s hope it lasts!").

On 19 December 1804, Letizia left Rome and took up residence at the Hôtel de Brienne, located at 92 rue Saint-Dominique in Paris, a property she purchased from Lucien for 600,000 francs. In addition, Napoleon granted her an appanage of 500,000 francs per year. Despite her son's rise to power, she did not attend the Imperial court. From 1805 to 1813, she lived at the Château de Pont-sur-Seine, a castle Napoleon had gifted her. During her occasional visits to Paris, she resided at the Hôtel de Brienne.

Later life and death

Deathbed portrait of Letizia Bonaparte.

In 1814, Letizia Bonaparte accompanied Napoleon into exile on Elba, where she lived alongside Pauline. In February 1815, she followed him back to Paris during the Hundred Days, the brief period of his restored rule. Their final meeting took place at the Château de Malmaison on 29 June 1815. After bidding farewell to her son, Letizia left Paris and travelled to Rome, seeking the protection of Pope Pius VII. In Rome, she purchased the former Palazzo Rinuccini, which was subsequently renamed Palazzo Bonaparte (now Palazzo Misciatelli), situated at the corner of Piazza Venezia and Via del Corso. There, she resided with Joseph Bonaparte.

Throughout her later years, she lived in seclusion, receiving few visitors apart from her half-brother, Cardinal Fesch, who remained with her. Her considerable wealth, accumulated through shrewd investments and the sale of her jewellery, enabled her to live comfortably. For a time, she was accompanied by the painter Anna Barbara Bansi. Letizia Bonaparte died in 1836, aged 85, three weeks before the 51st anniversary of Carlo Buonaparte's death. By then, she was nearly blind and had outlived Napoleon by 15 years. In 1851, her remains were transferred to the Imperial Chapel of Ajaccio, which had been specially built for her. A century later, in 1951, the body of Carlo Buonaparte was also moved there, to rest beside her.

Issue

Letizia Bonaparte gave birth to thirteen children between 1765 and 1784; five of them died, including two at birth and three in infancy.

• Napoleone Buonaparte (born and died 17 August 1765)
• Maria Anna Buonaparte (3 January 1767 – 1 January 1768)
• Joseph Bonaparte (7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844), King of Naples (1806–1808) and * * King of Spain (1808–1813); married Julie Clary on 1 August 1794.
• Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), Emperor of the French (1804–1814; 1815); married Vicomtesse Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796 (annulled 1810), then Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria on 1 April 1810.
• Maria Anna Buonaparte (14 July 1771 – 23 November 1771)
• A stillborn child (1773)
• Lucien Bonaparte (21 March 1775 – 29 June 1840), Prince of Canino and Musignano; married Christine Boyer on 5 May 1794, then Alexandrine de Bleschamp on 26 October 1803.
• Maria Anna (Elisa) Bonaparte (3 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1804–1809); married Felice Pasquale Baciocchi on 5 May 1797.
• Louis Bonaparte (2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846), King of Holland (1806–1810); married Hortense de Beauharnais on 4 January 1802.
• A stillborn son (1779)
• Pauline Bonaparte (20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825), Sovereign Princess and Duchess of Guastalla; married General Charles Leclerc on 5 May 1797 (died 1802), then Prince Camillo Borghese on 28 August 1803.
• Caroline Bonaparte (25 March 1782 – 18 May 1839), Queen consort of Naples (1800–1815) and Grand Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg; married Joachim Murat, King of Naples, in 1800.
• Jérôme Bonaparte (15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860), King of Westphalia (1807–1813), Prince of Montfort; married Elizabeth Patterson on 24 December 1803 (annulled 1806), then Princess Catharina of Württemberg on 22 August 1807, and finally Justine Bartolini-Baldelli in 1840 (religious) and 19 February 1853 (civil).

Cultural depictions

Letizia Bonaparte has been portrayed in various film and television productions. Dame May Whitty first played her in the 1937 film Conquest. She was later portrayed by Jane Lapotaire in the 1987 miniseries Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story, followed by Anouk Aimée in the 2002 miniseries Napoléon. Most recently, Sinéad Cusack portrayed her in Ridley Scott’s 2023 film Napoleon.

Arms

Coat of arms of Letizia Bonaparte

Notes The Coat of arms of Letizia Bonaparte depicts an eagle, the head to the sinister in front of an azure background standing upon gold thunderbolts on top of which is the letter L for Letizia. The shield is surrounded by the red Imperial mantle, semé of bees. The shield is topped by the Imperial crown.

References

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External links

• Marek, Miroslav. "Bonaparte Genealogy". Genealogy.eu.