Carlo Buonaparte

• 1. Introduction

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  Carlo Maria Buonaparte was born on the 27th of March 1746 in Ajaccio, Corsica, at a moment when the island was still nominally governed by the Republic of Genoa. He spent most of his adult life navigating shifting loyalties, uncertain fortunes, and the turbulent politics of a small island changing hands between empires. He died on the 24th of February 1785, broke, in pain, and largely unremarkable to the wider world. Twenty years later, his second surviving son would become Emperor of the French.

  The story of Carlo Buonaparte raises questions that cut to the heart of how ambition travels between generations. How did a Corsican lawyer with a gambling habit and a talent for accumulating titles leave behind a family that remade the map of Europe? What did he actually believe, and when did he stop believing it? And what kind of life did his children inherit when he died without a penny to his name?

• 2. A Family From Tuscany

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  The Buonaparte family traced its origins not to Corsica but to Tuscany. An ancestor named Guglielmo di Buonaparte served on Florence's Ghibelline-controlled municipal council in the 13th century. When the Guelph faction took power, Guglielmo and his family fled to Sarzana. Centuries later, in the 16th century, a descendant named Francesco di Buonaparte sailed from Liguria to Corsica in search of a new life.

  Carlo's father, Giuseppe Maria Buonaparte, was prominent enough in Ajaccio to represent the city at the Council of Corte in 1749. Carlo was born into this established household alongside an older sister, Maria Gertrude, born in 1741, and a brother named Sebastiano, born in 1743. Their mother, Maria Saveria Paravicini, died in 1750 when Carlo was still very young.

  Carlo initially followed his father's path toward law, enrolling at the University of Pisa. His studies were cut short when his father died and left him a substantial inheritance. He left before earning his degree, choosing to manage the family's affairs rather than finish his education. The decision shaped the rest of his life: he would spend years chasing the prestige of law through other means.

• 3. Marriage and Dowry

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  On the 2nd of June 1764, Carlo Buonaparte married fourteen-year-old Maria Letizia Ramolino. The Ramolino family descended from noble Lombard antecedents and had been established in Corsica for two hundred and fifty years. Their marriage was arranged by the two families.

  The factors the families weighed went well beyond wealth. Cultural compatibility mattered: speech dialect, church habits, food habits, attire, and shared family traditions were all part of the calculation. Economic convenience played a role too, but it was one consideration among several.

  Letizia brought a dowry of thirty-one acres of land, including a mill and a bakery. Together, those properties yielded an annual income of roughly ten thousand pounds. That dowry represented real stability for a young lawyer who had not yet finished his degree. The two would eventually have thirteen children between 1765 and 1784, though five of them died - two at birth and three in infancy.

• 4. Paoli, Rome, and the French

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  After his wedding at Ajaccio, Carlo Buonaparte went to work as secretary and personal assistant to Pasquale Paoli, the leader of Corsican independence. He fought alongside Paoli against the Republic of Genoa. In 1766, Paoli sent him on a diplomatic mission to Rome to negotiate with Pope Clement XIII.

  Carlo enjoyed his time in Rome. He was forced back to Corsica in 1768, for reasons the sources leave unclear, though there may have been an affair with a married woman during his stay. When he returned, he came back to a changed political situation. The Republic of Genoa had offered Corsica to Louis XV as payment for a debt. France wanted the island to protect its coastline. Genoa was happy to give it up, unable to suppress the island's independence movements. France took ownership, and many of Paoli's supporters fled to the mountains. Carlo and his family, now including their first son to survive infancy, a newborn named Giuseppe, went with them.

  The family eventually came back to Ajaccio. Letizia gave birth to a fourth child there, a son named Napoleone. On the 20th of September 1769, Carlo was appointed Assessor of the Royal Jurisdiction of Ajaccio and the neighbouring districts. Two months later, on the 27th of November 1769, he completed what he had abandoned years before and became a Doctor of Law at the University of Pisa.

• 5. Titles Without Treasure

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  The years after France took Corsica became a cascade of appointments for Carlo Buonaparte. In April 1770, the French administration created a Corsican Order of Nobility. Carlo had already secured the title of Noble Patrician of Tuscany in 1769, granted by the Archbishop of Pisa on the basis of his ancestry. His nobility was formally confirmed on the 13th of September 1771.

  The posts multiplied. He became an advocate of the Superior Council of Corsica on the 11th of December 1769. He was named Substitute Procurator of the King of France in Ajaccio in October 1770. He became assessor of the Royal Jurisdiction of Ajaccio in February 1771, Deputy of the Nobility in the General States of Corsica on the 13th of September 1771, and a Member of the Council of the Twelve Nobles of Western Corsica in May 1772. By July 1777 he was Deputy of the Nobility of Corsica at the Royal French Court, and in 1778 he was named Corsica's representative to the Court of Louis XVI at Versailles.

  The titles, however, did not generate income. Carlo had a fondness for gambling that worsened already shaky finances. He pursued land and money through legal means but with limited success. He noted his situation himself, writing in his account book: "In Paris, I received 4,000 francs from the King and a fee of 1,000 crowns from the government, but I came back without a penny."

• 6. Illness and a Penniless End

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  By 1782, Carlo Buonaparte was growing weak. He suffered from constant pain and travelled to Montpellier to find proper medical care. Doctors could do nothing to slow what was believed to be stomach cancer, the same disease that may later have killed his son Napoleon.

  He died on the 24th of February 1785. He was thirty-eight years old. His youngest son, Jérôme, had been born just three months before. Due to the spending that had marked his adult life, Carlo left his wife and eight surviving children without a penny.

  Of those eight children, the range of futures was extraordinary. Joseph, the eldest surviving son, became King of Naples and then King of Spain. Napoleon, the second surviving son, became Emperor of the French. Lucien became Prince of Canino and Musignano. Elisa became Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Louis became King of Holland. Pauline became Sovereign Princess and Duchess of Guastalla. Caroline became Grand Duchess of Berg and Cleves and later queen consort of Naples. Jérôme, the infant Carlo never lived to see grow up, became King of Westphalia.