Bonaparte, Or Buonaparte. I. Carlo Maria, father of Napoleon I., born in Ajaccio, March 29, 1746, died in Montpellier, Feb. 24, 1785. He studied law in Pisa, and early acquired prominence as an advocate and a follower of Paoli in the Corsican war against Genoa. In his 18th year he fell in love with Maria Letizia Ramolino, whose family belonged to the Genoese faction, and were adverse to the marriage, which did not take place till 1767. His wife accompanied him during his campaign, and dissuaded him from following Paoli in his flight to England. He afterward entered into friendly relations with Count Marbceuf, the French governor of the island, and became assessor of the city and province of Ajaccio, deputy of the Oorsican nobles to the court of France (1777-'9), and in 1781 one of the 12 members of the council of the Corsican nobility. Through the munificence of the government his son Napoleon was admitted to the military school of Brienne, Louis to the seminary at Autun, and his daughter iSlisa to the royal institution of St. Oyr. Afflicted with an ulcer in the stomach, he sought medical advice in Montpellier, and died in that city in the presence of his son Joseph and of his wife's brother, afterward Cardinal Fesch. He was a fine-looking, intelligent, amiable, and courageous gentleman.

His portrait is in the Versailles museum, and his marble bust by Elias Robert was executed in 1855. His wife bore him 13 children, of whom five sons, Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, Louis, and Jerome, and three daughters, Elisa, Pauline, and Caroline, survived him. II. Maria Letizia (called by the French Madame LAEtitia), wife of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, Aug. 24, 1750, died in Rome, Feb. 2, 1836. She was of an austere and classical style of beauty and commanding appearance, and her courageous spirit revealed itself after her marriage, when she went through the ordeal of camp life, in company with her husband, shortly before giving birth to her son Napoleon. She was overtaken with the first pains of labor while at church, and had barely time to reach her home. After the death of her husband she devoted herself to the education of her children; and in 1793, when Corsica fell into the hands of the English, she escaped with her three daughters and Lucien, in the midst of many perils, from Ajaccio to Marseilles, where she lived in penury upon the pittance which the government allowed to Corsican refugees.

Her position was greatly improved after Napoleon's promotion to the chief command of the French army in Italy, and on the establishment of the consular government she removed to Paris. Her mode of existence, however, continued to be frugal and unpretentious, even after her son's accession to the throne, when she received the title of Madame Mere. Napoleon found fault with her predilection for Lucien, and afterward with her inveterate dislike of Maria Louisa, and always with her repugnance to display. But though she occasionally suffered from his want of filial atfection, he insisted upon the utmost reverence being shown to her. Her education and disposition were not suitable for a prominent position in the brilliant society of Paris; and though a patrician by birth, of great natural dignity of manners, and possessed of considerable tact and judgment, her culture was deficient and her tastes were simple, and her habitual circle included only Madame Saveria, the faithful teacher of several of her children, and a few other intimate friends. She saved large sums of money, which afterward enabled her to assist her children in distress; and though economical almost to parsimony, she was lavish in dispensing charities, at the head of which she was placed officially.

After the downfall of Napoleon, she went with several of her children to Blois, and then to Rome. She visited her son at Elba, and sternly rebuked Caroline's defection, admonishing her rather to trample upon the corpse of her husband Murat than to desert her brother and benefactor. In April, 1815, she returned to Paris; and after the battle of Waterloo she took up her abode in Rome. Denounced in 1820 as a Bonapartist agitator by M. de Blacas, the French ambassador in Rome, she indignantly repelled the accusation, and declared with an unusual vehemence, the effect of which was enhanced by her general impassibility, that if in reality she could dispose of millions, she would not spend them in such attempts, but would devote her means exclusively to effect the release of her son from St. Helena. In 1830 she broke her thigh, and was ever afterward confined to her room. She left to her children a fortune represented by a revenue of 80,000 francs, and aoout 500,000 francs worth of jewelry. In the museum of Versailles are two portraits of her, painted by Gerard. In her celebrated statue by Canova she is represented in the attitude of Agrippina in the capitol.

III. Marie Anne Elisa Bacciochi, daughter of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, Jan. 3, 1777, died, according to most accounts, at the villa Vicentina, near Trieste, Aug. 7, 1820. She left St. Cyr after the suppression of that educational establishment at the end of 1792, and married at Marseilles in May, 1797, Felice Pasquale Bacciochi, a poor Corsican officer of noble lineage. In 1798 she removed to Paris, where her house became a resort of Chateaubriand, La Harpe, and other eminent persons, including Fontanes, her special favorite. Napoleon made her in 1805 princess of Piombino and Lucca, and in 1808 grand duchess of Tuscany. She was called the Semiramis of Lucca on account of her administrative talents. She put down brigandage and promoted the prosperity of her small dominions. She lived in great state at Florence, Pisa, and other places till 1814, when she retired to Bologna. Early in 1815 she went to Austria, where after Mu-rat's death she was joined by his widow, her sister Caroline, spending her last years under the title of countess of Compignano, near Trieste, in which city she was buried. Her husband, though crowned with her at Lucca, held a subordinate position during her life.

They had two sons. (See Bacciochi.) IV.. Marie Pauline, sister of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, Oct. 20, 1780, died in Florence, June 9, 1825. She had no advantages of education, but was remarkably brilliant and beautiful. In her 14th year Freron fell in love with her, and she would have married him if Napoleon had not discovered that his first wife was living. Her next suitor, Gen. Duphot, was killed in Rome in 1797; and Junot applied in vain for her hand, which she bestowed in 1801 upon Gen. Leclerc, whom she accompanied to Santo Domingo. She declined to leave him despite the rising of the negroes and the outbreak of the yellow fever; and after .her husband had died of that disease (Nov. 2, 1802), she conveyed his remains to France. Their only child died one year after her second marriage in 1803 with Prince Camillo Borghese, who, being the heir of an illustrious princely family of Rome, was selected by Napoleon as a valuable brother-in-law. He almost immediately separated from his wife, whose virtue he suspected, and he only became reconciled to her in her illness toward the end of her life. Napoleon doted upon Pauline, and made her duchess of Guas-talla; but he rebuked her excessive jealousy of Josephine, and resented her rudeness to Maria Louisa by banishing her from his court.

She nevertheless led a gay life in the vicinity of Paris and subsequently at Nice, gathering round her many fashionable people of easy virtue. The news of her brother's downfall in 1814 reached her in Italy. Forgetting all previous differences, she proceeded to Elba, made many attempts for his restoration, reconciled him with Lucien and Murat, and sent him all her jewelry, which was afterward found in Napoleon's carriage at Waterloo. She repeatedly applied for permission to share his captivity at; St. Helena, and spent the rest of her life in great affliction, Napoleon's death giving an irretrievable blow to her shattered health. After a long residence in the Borghese palace in Rome, she joined her husband in Florence shortly before her death. The papal authorities treated her with great kindness, and she endeared herself to the people wherever she was by her patronage of letters and art and by her extensive charities. Canova's marble statue of Pauline (now said to be Queen Victoria's property) represents her as Venus Victrix." Her remains were transferred from Florence to Rome and buried in the Borghese chapel. (See Boeghese.) V. Caroline Marie Annoneiade, sister of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, March 26, 1782, died in Florence, May 18, 1839. She went with her mother to Paris, and was for some time under the tuition of Madame Campan at St. Germain. Murat was one of her many admirers, and Napoleon, over whom she exercised great influence, selected him as her husband.

They were married on Jan. 20, 1800, and Murat successively became grand duke of Cleves and Berg (1806) and king of Naples (1808). Superior to her husband in administrative talent, she marked her accession to power as regent in her husband's absence, by recalling political exiles and releasing prisoners of state, and by a felicitous selection of upright and able ministers. She promoted science, letters, and art, improved the material and moral condition of the Neapolitans, established several lyceums and a female seminary, and had extensive excavations made, especially at Pompeii, which brought to light many remarkable monuments. She also displayed great courage, especially in 1809, when she animated the drooping spirit of her subjects by exposing herself on the quay within reach of the fire of an English fleet. Her domineering nature, however, brought her into collision with Maria Louisa, and Tallevrand described her as a handsome woman with the head of Cromwell. Alienated from the emperor's court, she sided against him by joining her husband's secret negotiations with Austria and England. After the disasters which overwhelmed Murat, she took leave of him May 20, 1815, remained in Naples as regent, and invoked the assistance of English marines and the Austrian squadron for the repression of anarchy.

She finally left Naples on board an English vessel in company with three of her former ministers, including Macdonald; on her way to Trieste she met the ship which was conveying Ferdinand, the restored king of Naples, to his capital. The emperor of Austria objected to her residing in Trieste, but permitted her to establish her domicile near Vienna, where she assumed the name of Countess Lipona - an anagram of Napoli or Naples. While here she accidentally learned the tragic end of her husband, after which she contracted a secret marriage with Gen. Macdonald, who had never left her since their departure from Naples. Despoiled of her vast personal property, she was eventually obliged to dispose of her estate near Vienna, and to join her daughters in Italy. Her claims upon the Elysee Bourbon and Neuilly palaces were rejected by France, but an annual allowance of 100,000 francs was granted to her by the chambers shortly before her death. She bore to Murat two sons and two daughters. (See Mueat).