Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15 August 1769 in Ajaccio, on Corsica, a few months after France annexed the island. He trained as an artillery officer and came to notice during the French Revolutionary Wars, especially at Toulon in 1793 and in the Italian campaign of 1796–1797. In November 1799 he helped overthrow the Directory, became First Consul, and in 1804 crowned himself Emperor of the French. The Civil Code of 1804, later called the Napoleonic Code, rewrote French private law and was copied or adapted in much of Europe and the Americas. He also reorganized secondary schools, the Bank of France, and the Legion of Honour.

He sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803, occupied large parts of the Continent, and placed relatives on several thrones. The 1812 invasion of Russia destroyed the Grande Armée. After Leipzig and the 1814 fall of Paris he abdicated and was sent to Elba. He returned for the Hundred Days and lost at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Britain then held him on Saint Helena, where he died on 5 May 1821. His remains were later brought to Les Invalides in Paris. Historians still argue over the cost of his wars and the durability of his legal reforms. On this site’s calendar the August date is Ox/Leo.

Portraits from his lifetime are public-domain paintings, not photographs. This page uses one of those stills and links back to the Year of the Ox hub.