Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 15 August 1769
- It is possible that Napoleon Bonaparte was named after his father’s uncle, who was also named Napoleon (Napoleone in Italian).
Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military conquerors in world history, was born on this day in 1769.
He was born in the city of Ajaccio on Corisca, as the fourth of 13 children. Napoleon’s Bonaparte family (spelled Buonaparte in Italian) lived in Ajaccio for generations before Napoleon’s birth and commanded great respect there. Members of that family participated in Ajaccio’s city government.
The Buonaparte family had moved to Corsica from Sarzana, an Italian town located around halfway between Genoa and Florence. Sarzana lies only a few kilometers from the Ligurian Sea, and the famous Carrara marble quarries are also located nearby. The Buonaparte family attained the status of nobility while they were still in Sarzana.
It is possible that Napoleon Bonaparte was named after his father’s uncle, who was also named Napoleon (Napoleone in Italian). Namely, this uncle died in 1767, roughly two years before the birth of the future French emperor.
Napoleon’s parents also named their firstborn son Napoleon, but he died soon after birth, around four years before the birth of the future emperor.
