Carlo Maria Buonaparte

Father of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Carlo Maria Buonaparte was born in Ajaccio , Corsica, on March 27, 1746, into a family that had been present on the island for seven generations (a Francesco Buonaparte had emigrated from Sarzane, a Ligurian town south of La Spezia, to Ajaccio in 1514 or 1520). The family, although belonging to the Ajaccio bourgeoisie, was modest, owning a few fields and vineyards in the surrounding area.

On June 2, 1764, at the age of eighteen, Charles-Marie married Letizia Ramolino, who was only fourteen. She would give him thirteen or fourteen children, eight of whom would survive.

He first supported Pasquale Paoli in his fight against the French, before attempting to continue the struggle in the maquis, then rallying to the new masters after Paoli's exile to England in May 1769.

In the autumn of 1769, he became a Doctor of Law at the University of Pisa, and the following year was appointed assessor of the Royal Jurisdiction of Ajaccio.

Charles-Marie Bonaparte. 19th century lithography

Having proved that his nobility dated back over two hundred years, Charles-Marie Bonaparte became a French gentleman on August 19, 1771, and even a deputy of the Corsican nobility to the court in 1777. He took advantage of his stay in Paris to obtain three scholarships for his children.

He died of stomach cancer in Montpellier, Languedoc, on February 24, 1785, leaving his wife and eight children destitute as a result of his mismanagement.

Charles-Marie Bonaparte was successively buried in one of the vaults of the Cordeliers chapel in Montpellier, then in 1803 in the grounds of the Château de Mortefontaine , then the following year in a chapel in the Château de Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, then in 1819 in the parish church of Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, where his son Louis joined him  in 1847, a year after his death. Since 1951, the Emperor's father has been laid to rest in the Chapelle Impériale  in Ajaccio.