The brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte for children and adults presented in this article will surely interest you. The name of this has long become a household name not only because of his talent and intelligence, but also thanks to the incredible ambitions, as well as the dizzying career that he managed to make.

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is marked by the rapid rise of his military career. Entering the service at the age of 16, he became a general at the age of 24. Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor at the age of 34. Interesting facts from the biography of the French commander are numerous. Among his skills and features were very unusual. It is said that he read at an incredible speed - about 2 thousand words per minute. In addition, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte could sleep for a long time for 2-3 hours a day. Interesting facts from the biography of this person, we hope, aroused your interest in his personality.

Events in Corsica leading up to the birth of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor, was born on August 15, 1769. He was born on the island of Corsica, in the city of Ajaccio. The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte would probably have turned out differently if the political situation of that time had been different. His native island was for a long time in the possession of the Republic of Genoa, but in 1755 Corsica overthrew the rule of Genoa. After that, for several years it was an independent state, ruled by Pasquale Paole, a local landowner. Carlo Buonaparte (his portrait is presented below), Napoleon's father, served as his secretary.

In 1768, she sold France the rights to Corsica. And a year later, after the local rebels were defeated by French troops, Pasquale Paole moved to England. Napoleon himself was not a direct participant in these events and even their witness, since he was born only 3 months later. Nevertheless, Paole's personality played a big role in shaping his character. For a long 20 years, this man became the idol of such a French commander as Napoleon Bonaparte. The biography for children and adults of Bonaparte, presented in this article, continues with a story about his origin.

Origin of Napoleon

Letizia Ramalino and Carlo Buonaparte, the parents of the future emperor, were petty nobles. There were 13 children in the family, of which Napoleon was the second oldest. True, five of his sisters and brothers died in childhood.

The father of the family was one of the ardent supporters of the independence of Corsica. He participated in the drafting of the Corsican Constitution. But in order for his children to be educated, he began to show loyalty to the French. After some time, Carlo Buonaparte even became a representative of the nobility of Corsica in the French Parliament.

Studying in Ajaccio

It is known that Napoleon, as well as his sisters and brothers, received their primary education in the city school of the city of Ajaccio. After that, the future emperor began to study mathematics and writing with the local abbot. Carlo Buonaparte, as a result of interaction with the French, managed to obtain royal scholarships for Napoleon and Joseph, his older brother. Joseph was to make a career as a priest, and Napoleon was to become a military man.

cadet school

The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte continues already in Autun. It was here that the brothers left in 1778 to study French. A year later, Napoleon entered the cadet school located in Brienne. He was an excellent student and showed a special talent in mathematics. In addition, Napoleon liked to read books on various topics - philosophy, history, geography. The favorite historical characters of the future emperor were Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. However, at this time, Napoleon had few friends. Both the Corsican origin and accent (Napoleon never managed to get rid of it), as well as the tendency to loneliness and complex character, played a role in this.

Father's death

He later went on to study at the Royal Cadet School. Napoleon graduated ahead of schedule in 1785. At the same time, his father died, and he had to take his place as head of the family. The elder brother was not suitable for this role, since he did not differ in leadership inclinations, like Napoleon.

Military career

Napoleon Bonaparte began his military career in Valence. The biography, the summary of which is the topic of this article, continues in this city, located in the center of the Rhone lowland. Here Napoleon served as a lieutenant. Some time later he was transferred to Oxonne. The future emperor at that time read a lot, and also tried himself in the literary field.

The military biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, one might say, gained momentum in the decade following the end of the cadet school. In just 10 years, the future emperor managed to go through the entire hierarchy of ranks in the French army of that time. In 1788, the future emperor tried to get into the service and in the Russian army, but he was refused.

Napoleon met the French Revolution in Corsica where he was on vacation. He accepted and supported her. Moreover, Napoleon was noted as an excellent commander at the time he was made a brigadier general, and then the commander of the Italian army.

Marriage to Josephine

An important event in Napoleon's personal life took place in 1796. It was then that he married the count's widow Josephine Beauharnais.

Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose full biography is presented in an impressive volume of books, was recognized as the best French commander after he inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy in Sardinia and Austria. It was then that he rose to a new level, starting the "Napoleonic Wars". They lasted almost 20 years, and it was thanks to them that such a commander as Napoleon Bonaparte, a biography, became known to the whole world. A brief summary of the further path to world glory, passed by him, is as follows.

The French Directory was unable to maintain the gains that the revolution brought. This became apparent in 1799. Napoleon, along with his army, was at that time in Egypt. After his return, he broke up the Directory thanks to the support of the people. On November 19, 1799, Bonaparte proclaimed the regime of the consulate, and 5 years later, in 1804, he declared himself emperor.

Domestic policy of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose biography by this time had already been marked by many achievements, decided in his own to focus on strengthening his own power, which was supposed to serve as a guarantee of the civil rights of the French population. In 1804, the Napoleonic Code, a code of civil rights, was adopted for this purpose. In addition, a tax reform was carried out, as well as the creation of the French Bank, owned by the state. The French education system was created under Napoleon. Catholicism was recognized as the religion of the majority of the population, but freedom of religion was not abolished.

Economic blockade of England

England was the main opponent of France's industry and capital in the European market. This country financed military operations against it on the continent. England attracted major European powers such as Austria and Russia to its side. Thanks to a number of French military operations carried out against Russia, Austria and Prussia, Napoleon was able to annex to his country the lands that previously belonged to Holland, Belgium, Italy and Northern Germany. The defeated countries had no choice but to make peace with France. Napoleon declared an economic blockade of England. He banned trade relations with this country. However, this measure also hit the French economy. France was unable to replace British products in the European market. This was not able to foresee Napoleon Bonaparte. A brief biography in abbreviation should not dwell on this, so let's continue our story.

Decline in authority, the birth of an heir

The economic crisis and protracted wars led to a decrease in the authority of Napoleon Bonaparte among the French who had previously supported him. In addition, it turned out that no one threatens France, and Bonaparte's ambitions are due only to concern for the state of his dynasty. In order to leave an heir, he divorced Josephine, since she could not give him a child. In 1810, Napoleon married Marie-Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. In 1811, the long-awaited heir was born. However, the public did not approve of marriage with a woman from the Austrian royal family.

War with Russia and exile to the Elbe

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to start a war with Russia, whose brief biography, largely due to this, is of interest to many of our compatriots. Like other states, Russia once supported the blockade of England, but did not seek to comply with it. This step was fatal for Napoleon. Defeated, he abdicated. The former French emperor was sent to the island of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Napoleon's revenge and final defeat

After the abdication of Bonaparte, representatives of the Bourbon dynasty returned to France, as well as their heirs, who sought to regain their position and fortune. This caused discontent among the population. On February 25, 1815, Napoleon fled from Elba. He returned in triumph to France. Only a very brief biography of Napoleon Bonaparte can be presented in one article. Therefore, let us say only that he resumed the war, but France could no longer bear this burden. Napoleon was finally defeated at Waterloo, after 100 days of revenge. This time he was exiled to St. Helena, which was much farther away than before, so it was more difficult to escape from it. Here the former emperor spent the last 6 years of his life. He never saw his wife and son again.

Death of the former Emperor

Bonaparte's health began to deteriorate rapidly. He died on May 5, 1821, presumably from cancer. According to another version, Napoleon was poisoned. A very popular opinion is that the former emperor was given arsenic. However, have you been poisoned? The fact is that Napoleon was afraid of this and voluntarily took small doses of arsenic, thus trying to develop immunity to it. Of course, such a procedure would certainly end tragically. Be that as it may, even today it is impossible to say with complete certainty why Napoleon Bonaparte died. His brief biography, presented in this article, ends there.

It must be added that he was first buried on the island of St. Helena, but in 1840 his remains were reburied in Paris, in Les Invalides. The monument on the grave of the former emperor is made of Karelian porphyry, which was presented to the government of France by Nicholas I, the Russian emperor.

The story of the rapid rise of Napoleon Bonaparte to the heights of power over almost all of Europe, most historians prefer to start with the battle for Toulon. The phrase "This is my Toulon" has become a household word, denoting a successful enterprise (not even necessarily a military one), after which life is rapidly changing for the better.

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Birth and formation of personality

Having won a convincing victory over the counter-revolutionaries and the British and becoming one of the young generals of the republic, Bonaparte was included in a kind of "black list" of the French Directory that replaced the Convention.

The young man alerted the government with his own courage and ability to instantly make the right military-political decisions. As history has shown, the desire of the government of the first French Republic to push such a person into the deepest shadow was justified. However, in a moment of crisis, it was necessary to resort to the help of this extraordinary person, which ruined the republic.

Napoleon was born in Genoese-occupied Corsica on May 15, 1769.. His parents from the petty but ancient nobility had 13 children, five of whom died in infancy. There is evidence that the young Napoleon was a hyperactive child (historians recorded his family nickname "Troublemaker"), dividing his childhood years into tricks and reading. At the same time, before starting school, young Napoleon did not know either Italian or French, but spoke only in the Corsican dialect. This fact explains his "indescribable" light accent, which, however, was noticed only when he began his ascent to power.

Napoleon's career was helped not only by the habit of reading and the ability to analyze what he read. He also received a good education for those times. After elementary school, Bonaparte, already in France, completed his studies at the following institutions:

• Autun College (mainly French);
• College Brienne le Chateau (mathematics, history);
• higher educational institution - the future Polytechnic Institute - the Paris Military School (military science, mathematics, artillery, advanced scientific achievements of that time such as aeronautics).

A brilliant education, a passion for both the humanities (military history) and technical sciences will greatly help Bonaparte in the future to combine intuitive solutions with their verified mathematical implementation.

The history of the Napoleonic rise

The revolution in France gave birth to a galaxy of young ambitious generals. Napoleon stood out against their background by belonging to the nobility and excellent education.. The fact that he never got rid of his accent until the end of his life, and in moments of excitement often switched to his native Corsican dialect, rather hindered than helped his career. However, the young military man turned out to have a great instinct for patrons..

During the years of the Convention, he was supported by Lazar Carnot, who also loved mathematics, and the younger brother of the all-powerful Maximilian Robespierre - Augustin. During the bourgeois coup, Bonaparte managed to dissociate himself from his old patrons and get the support of Tallien and Barras. Probably for this reason, governments were reluctant to turn to his services. So, before the start of the siege of Toulon, Bonaparte was only a major, but for a brilliant operation he immediately received the primary general rank (“brigadier general”) at the age of 24.

But he had to wait for the next rank for more than two years, and at half the content. From 1793 to 1795, Bonaparte considered entering the service of the future implacable enemies of Emperor Napoleon: the English East India Company and the Russian army.

But when the bourgeois power was tested for strength by two revolts at once, the royalist (Vandemiere) and the Jacobin, Napoleon Bonaparte was the only one of the highest military commanders who agreed to suppress these revolts and successfully coped with the task, using artillery against the rebels. The irony of fate lies in the fact that Louis XVI at one time did not dare to give such an order, and Bonaparte, after this solution to the problem of riots, not only immediately received the next military rank (divisional general), but also firmly became part of the ruling elite at that time.

First victories

Already six months after "his vandemière" Bonaparte was appointed to the Italian army. Finally getting rid of the guardianship of government officials, the young general wins one victory after another.

The winning list starts with the following battles:

• under Montenotte and Millisimo ("six victories in six days");
• near Lodi, at Lonato and near the city of Brescia;
• decisive battles at Castiglion and at Arcole (all - 1796);
• the defeat of the Austrian army at Rivoli, the defeat of the "Papal States" (1797).

Already in these early battles, an interesting trend appeared, which will be destined to characterize almost all the battles of the Napoleonic era: individual corps of the French army under the command of its future marshals could often suffer unfortunate defeats (like Junot and Massena already at the first stage of the Italian company), but these lost battles led only to the concentration of troops led personally by Napoleon, and under his command the French inevitably won victories.

Up until 1814, there were only a few battles when the French were under the personal command of Napoleon, and which French (and world) historians rank as "no one's":

• Preussish-Eylau (opponents - Russian and Prussian troops, 1807);
• Aspern-Essling (opponents - Austrian army, 1809);
• Borodino (1812);
• Leipzig (1813).

Interestingly, the battle of Leipzig is considered to be the defeat of Napoleon, but it, in fact, is a mirror image of the Battle of Borodino. At Borodino, the Russians retreated, having lost a little more people than the French; near Leipzig, the French retreated, having lost only 10 thousand more than the coalition troops.

Major triumphs

The list of Napoleon's victories in major battles during the same period is much more impressive. The most important of them are the battles:

• at Rivoli (1797);
• at Austerlitz (1805, victory over the Russian-Austrian army);
• at Friedland (1807, victory over the Russian-Prussian army);
• under Wagram (1809);
• under Bautzen (1813).

Also, the return of Napoleon from Elba can be attributed to incredible triumphs.: having landed with less than a thousand supporters, the commander, on the way to Paris, almost without fighting, attached almost a hundred thousandth army to himself. And, of course, the days of his coup on 18 Brumaire or November 9, 1799, the concordat with the Catholic Church in the person of the Pope and the coronation day of December 2, 1804 are the real triumphs in the biography of Napoleon.

Personal life

Today, many novels about Napoleon's love affairs are being released. It can be assumed that, especially during the Italian company, he had many mistresses, but few of them remained in history or in the heart of a great man. But here are the women without whom Napoleon Bonaparte could not have taken place at all as a military-political figure and almost a world leader:

But here is a curious fact: for the two women who “made” Napoleon, there were also two women in his life who pushed him to death a lot:

• the daughter of the Austrian emperor Marie-Louise (1791−1847), who betrayed him in the days of defeat and forgot about him already during his exile to the Elba, in fact, killed Napoleon's only child;
• Countess Maria Walewska (1786−1817) - probably a beautiful Polish woman really loved Bonaparte, becoming his "late passion", but, according to historians, in addition to the objective reasons for the fatal campaign against Russia, Napoleon began it under the constant "pressure" of the beauty who dreamed about a free and great Poland.

That's how two "guardian angels" in the love story and personal life of Napoleon found two "demons".

Brief description of Napoleon

According to contemporaries, Bonaparte was distinguished by incredible performance (3-4 hours of sleep was enough for him) and strong outbursts of anger, turning into seizures. A detailed description of the first French emperor can be read in the memoirs of his contemporaries, but the best of the artistic ones is considered to be the one given in War and Peace.

In short, according to Count L. N. Tolstoy, the dominant feature of this person was contempt for humanity in general and for any specific person in particular. But even Leo Tolstoy does not deny Bonaparte the extraordinary speed of processing information and making decisions on this basis.

12.09.2017

Napoleon is one of the most significant names in history. Everyone must have heard a lot about Napoleon Bonaparte, but there are also a number of facts that are not told to anyone in history lessons in schools.

Napoleon Bonaparte tops the short list of people who are most responsible for how the modern world came to be. On May 18, 1804, this medium-sized man rose from a small artillery officer on a remote island to the rank of emperor, which Europeans had not enjoyed since Roman times.

His years of rule dramatically changed European politics, from obeying the code of new laws set out in the Napoleonic Code to which side of the streets traffic would take place in most of Europe. Before Napoleon, the whole world lived by its own rules, after him it was completely different.

Scientists interested in the history of Napoleon's life were able to find strange and even unusual things and moments from his biography, we will consider them in more detail.

Napoleon wrote his novel

About a year before the coup and the establishment of the dictatorship, Napoleon wrote his first novel, which he called Clisson et Eugénie (Clisson and Eugenie). The novel tells the story of an army officer who fell in love with the girl of his dreams and quickly married her.

However, military duty obliges officer Clisson to come out of retirement in order to go to serve at the front. His wife Eugenie does not waste any time - she is cheating on him with his best friend. Upon learning this, Clisson simply gives up, and he decides to die the death of a hero in battle. The complete book was not published until after Napoleon's death.

Napoleon could have died exploring the shores of Australia

In 1785, Napoleon was about to sail around the world under the command of Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse. Shortly before the start of the French Revolution, La Perouse combined two ships to explore the coasts of Australia, the Solomon Islands, Alaska and California.

La Perouse approved a team of 220 people for his voyage, but Napoleon was not included in this list of participants due to his missing the last training camp. Napoleon was taken by surprise by the refusal, because he was really good at mathematics, was the best student in the military academy class in artillery and had almost professional skills in sailing.

Another surprise for Napoleon was prepared by the news that reached France a few years later - the La Perouse expedition disappeared without a trace. It is likely that both ships of the expedition in 1788 were found on a coral reef. None of La Perouse's crews ever returned home.

Napoleon had an ear for music

Many people have ear problems, but when you are the absolute ruler of France, you can do whatever you want and no one can tell you to stop doing it.

According to numerous sources, Napoleon had no ear for music at all - whenever he was irritable or nervous, he hummed a strange tune that was like a mixture of muttering and buzzing. His good friend Betsy Balcombe wrote in her diary: “When Bonaparte was nervous, he became too irritable - he began to abstract and walk around the room singing rather strange songs, and these cases were far from isolated. How many times I tried to understand what he sings or what melody he sings, I never succeeded. Yes, Napoleon, most likely, was simply not destined to become a musician.

Napoleon was a card cheat

Napoleon Bonaparte was a skilled general and his reputation made him a genius on the battlefield among other generals. However, like most "geniuses", his success was more than just an innate skill - success was a hoax.

His strategy, which he developed to find the enemy's weak points and exploit all available advantages, was little used during his exile on the Elbe, where he turned it into a chronic cheat in card games with his companions.

According to a lady who knew him at the time:

“When Napoleon realized that he was starting to lose at cards, he would not hesitate to deceive his opponents, and when everyone began to recognize the deception, Napoleon swept all the money from the table into his pockets and left. In most cases, when another game was scheduled that day, he gave all the money he had taken to his valet the next day to distribute to the owners.

Why are Napoleon's hands always shown hidden in his pockets?

No image of Napoleon is complete without understanding his pose for portraits. Put one foot forward, turn three-quarters of a turn to the side and insert your right hand into your pocket, and, voila, you are in the pose of Napoleon Bonaparte himself.

The chosen pose for most of the portraits of Napoleon is not a whim of the artists. Napoleon himself always chose one single pose. Hidden hands in pockets tell us that Napoleon was unusually vain, and he always kept his hands in his pockets out of habit to keep them warm and safe.

According to Betsy, the same young woman who tried to come to terms with his singing, Napoleon's hands were very beautiful, his knuckles dimpled like a child's, and his fingers were beautifully shaped and tapered subtly to the nails, which were also perfect.

Napoleon was a pimp

When he did not hide his hands in his pockets, Napoleon was dangerous to be around. According to the memoirs of Constant Vairy, who spent a lot of time surrounded by the emperor during his time in power, Napoleon "in moments of his good mood" could easily pinch various intimate places of the people around him - nose, ears and others.

Others have written that Napoleon pinched women's noses as a prank, pulled back the cheeks of friends until they were on the verge of tears, and even pulled on the chins of babies until he was repelled by the mothers of the children.

Napoleon survived two suicide attempts

Great people are often out of control, and Napoleon was no exception. Bonaparte, as emperor, often flew into a rage, sometimes throwing heavy objects at his ministers and other subordinates. These attacks began to bring even more destruction after his fate changed significantly, and the countries of Europe began to oppose him. It seems that the fear of defeat was fatal to him.

During his time in power, Napoleon was within seconds of committing suicide a couple of times. The first time was opium, which he usually carried in a vial around his neck. He appears to have taken a lethal dose in 1812 after the Cossacks seized the imperial territories during the Russian campaign.

After a crushing defeat in Russia and a disastrous final battle that resulted in all of the emperor's enemies gathering together and attacking his retreating army—Napoleon decided it was time to end his suffering and took several times more opium than the previous time. However, Napoleon had taken opium before, only in small doses for many years, and after the last dose, which, in his opinion, should have brought eternal rest, it instead brought him only health complications.

Later, on the Elbe, he also tried to commit another suicide with a pistol, but his faithful servant managed to pour out the gunpowder and the shot did not happen.

An outstanding statesman, talented commander and diplomat - this is how Napoleon Bonaparte entered world history. He gained his fame not only thanks to his extraordinary mind and all-consuming ambitions, but also to the dizzying career that delighted his contemporaries and impresses his descendants. Here are some interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte.

• Napoleon began his military career at the age of 16, it turned out to be so successful and swift that he became a general at 24, and a great emperor at 34. When he was still in the rank of lieutenant, in 1788 he made an attempt to enter the military service of the Russian Empire. Historians believe that by refusing to accept Napoleon, Russia did not receive a great commander.
• It is widely believed that Napoleon was allegedly ashamed of his short stature of 157 cm. But this is a misconception associated with the incorrect translation of his height from French pounds. When translated correctly, his height is 170 cm, which is quite normal for that era. It is worth noting that contemporaries did not consider Napoleon a short man.

• Nature endowed the emperor with many talents, for example, he read at an amazing speed of 2 thousand words per minute. Napoleon not only revered mathematics, but also made a personal contribution to its development - there is even a theorem that bears his name.
• For his research, Napoleon not only became a master of mathematics, but was also elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

• Contemporaries were amazed at the efficiency of Napoleon, who slept only in the late evenings, spending 3-4 hours sleeping, but at night he was awake. The emperor had iron self-control - he effortlessly fell asleep even at the most important and decisive moments of his life. So it was on the eve of the battles of Wagram and Austerlitz.
• As a curiosity, we note one of the interesting facts about Napoleon - he was undoubtedly a decisive and courageous person, while he was terribly afraid of cats.

• Funny and the emperor's passion for hats. He demolished 170 unique hats during his reign. Napoleon personally came up with the model for his small felt hat, he decorated it with a tricolor cockade, the colors of which, ironically, were similar to the colors of the flag of modern Russia.
• Once, bypassing the military camp, Napoleon found a soldier sleeping at his post. But instead of putting the offender on trial, the emperor, taking the weapon of a soldier, replaced him at his post. There is no doubt that such an act, testifying to the mind and sober calculation of Napoleon, won him popularity and respect among the military.

• The opinion about the poisoning of the emperor with arsenic is well known. But researchers of the life of this great man doubt this, since Napoleon could systematically take medicines containing arsenic. This substance was widely used at that time for medical purposes.
• This is only a part of the facts and legends connected with Napoleon Bonaparte.
• The emperor was aware of his great role in world history and expressed himself on this occasion as follows: his name will live forever, like the name of God.

Interesting video about Napoleon Bonaparte:

Personalities of such magnitude as the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte always give rise to a lot of rumors and conjectures around them. However, the history of his life is known quite reliably, and the path that he went from the Corsican village to the French throne seems all the more surprising.

Facts from the life of Napoleon

• At the birth of the future emperor, a born Corsican, the name was Napoleone di Buonaparte, but later he “Frenchized” his first and last name.
• From childhood, Napoleon dreamed of a military career.
• He became the first Corsican to successfully graduate from the French Military Academy.
• The young Napoleon began to learn French at the age of nine. His native language was Corsican Italian.
• During the revolution, he, already an officer in the French army, supported the rebellious Corsicans.
• Even before the seizure of power, Napoleon organized the publication of two newspapers in France ().
• He received the rank of general at the age of 26.
• Napoleon spent very little time sleeping - about 4 hours a day. At the same time, he was able to fall asleep in a few minutes even in the most stressful situations.

• Contrary to popular myth, the French emperor was not short - according to surviving evidence, his height was slightly above average. The misconception about his small stature is the result of British propaganda.
• Napoleon is the author of the romantic story Clisson and Eugenia.
• After his famous Egyptian expedition, Napoleon Bonaparte personally assisted French scientists in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.
• During his exile on the island of Saint Helena, the disgraced emperor picked up and left a kitten, whom he named Ben. The cat became his inseparable friend.
• Napoleon Bonaparte had a weakness for beautiful hats, of which he had about two hundred.
• A well-known fact from the biography of Bonaparte is that once he saw a soldier who fell asleep on duty, but instead of punishing the offender, he himself took over the post and continued his duty.
• The French emperor had a remarkable ability in mathematics.