fbpx

27.05.

1820: Birth of French Princess Mathilde Bonaparte

1820: Birth of French Princess Mathilde Bonaparte
Photo Credit To http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/WINTERHALTER.jpg

Matilda Bonaparte was born in Trieste, when this city was a part of the Austrian Empire. She married the Russian Count Anatole Demidov.



Matilda Bonaparte, Napoleon’s niece, was born on this day in 1820. She was a daughter of Napoleon’s youngest brother Jerome, who was King of Westphalia. Matilda, as a member of the imperial Bonaparte family, held the title of French princess (Princess française). Matilda originated from the royal family (her grandfather through the maternal line was King of Württemberg, who made Stuttgart his capital).

She was born in Trieste, when this city was a part of the Austrian Empire. She married the Russian Count Anatole Demidov. He received the title of Tuscan Prince of San Donato (Italian: principle di San Donato), while she could retain her title. Anatol Demidov was addressed as “count” in the Russian Empire, not as “prince”.

The mentioned King of Württemberg, Matilda’s grandfather, was a brother of the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna. This Empress gave birth to her two sons, Alexander I and Nicholas I, who became Russian emperors. Therefore, they were Matilda’s relatives.

She lived in Paris for a long time. At one point she allegedly told Marcel Proust that, hadn’t her uncle Napoleon been there, she would still be selling oranges on the streets of Ajaccio. The city of Ajaccio was the seat of the Bonaparte family in Corsica.




Allegedly, Matilda was the only member of the Bonaparte family who continued to live in France after 1886. She died in Paris in 1904.

Facebook Comments Box






Related posts