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Josephine De Beauharnais: Napoleon Bonaparte
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Joséphine de Beauharnais (born Marie Josèphe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie June 23, 1763 – May 29, 1814) was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and ... the first Empress of the French. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoleon III. Through her son she was the Great-Grandmother of the latest Swedish and Danish Kings and Queens as well as the last Greek Queen. Further the current reigning houses of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg descend from her.
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The Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, is one of the most famous people to bear the name. She was born as Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie. She acquired the latter part of her name through her first marriage with Alexandre de Beauharnais.
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Napoleon was desperately in love with Josephine, widowed when her husband, General de Beauharnais, was sent to the guillotine during the reign of terror. She came later to devotedly love him but was at first reluctant to marry the little known artillery officer. Within ten years, following dazzling military and political achievements, he elevated her to the position of Empress, a role which she played with graciousness and charming elegance.
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After his marriage to Josephine on March 9, 1796, Napoleon took up residence at No. 6, Rue Chantereine. A few days later, he left to take command of the Army of Italy. On December 28, 1797, as a tribute to Napoleon’s victory in Italy, the Central Administration of the Department of the Seine decided to give a new name to Rue Chantereine, the street where he lived. It was renamed the Rue de la Victoire. On March 26, 1798, Napoleon purchased the house on the Rue de la Victoire... known as the Hotel Bonaparte, from the lessor for 52,400 livres. The lessor was none-other-than the actress Louise-Julie Carreau, the very first tenant of the property.
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Joséphine de Beauharnais was famous for being Napoleon Bonaparte’s consort, for her love of luxury and her affairs. However, she assembled collections of horticultural specimens from around the world and an internationally admired art collection at her beloved chateau at Malmaison. A new exhibition at Somerset House in London explores her role as a discerning collector and patron of the arts. It showcases some of the finest paintings, sculptures and decorative objects from her collection, which was moved from the outskirts of Paris to the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat by Alexander I of Russia.
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"It is likely that until October, 1779 Josephine used her first name Rose, or more familiarly, Yeyette. After her marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais, she signed herself Vicomtesse de Beauharnais or even Lapagerie de Beauharnais. In 1790, she became Citoyenne Beauharnais, sometimes followed by the words, wife of a maréchal de camp. Alexandre's execution stood out by the appearance of widow Beauharnais or Lapagerie-widow Beauharnais which she put at the bottom of letters after July, 1794. On March 9, 1796, she initialed M.R.J. Tascher to the certificate of marriage to Napoleon.
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