Bonaparte, Jérôme

born Nov. 15, 1784, Ajaccio, Corsica

died June 24, 1860, Villegenis, France

French nobleman.

He was the youngest brother of Napoleon, from whom he became estranged after marrying a U.S. resident (1803) without Napoleon's consent; he later allowed his marriage to be annulled. Napoleon then married Jérôme to Princess Catherine of Württemberg and made him king of Westphalia (1807–13). He served in the Russian campaign of 1812 and at the Battle of Waterloo. After Napoleon's fall, he lived in Florence; after the rise of his nephew, Napoleon III, he returned to France to become a marshal of France and president of the Senate.

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▪ king of Westphalia

original Italian  Roland Buonaparte  

born Nov. 15, 1784, Ajaccio, Corsica

died June 24, 1860, Villegenis, Fr.

 king of Westphalia, marshal of France, and Napoleon I's youngest brother, the only one whose career stretched into the second French empire of Louis-Napoléon (later Napoleon III). It was through Jérôme that the Bonaparte line extended into the U.S.; his eldest son, Jérôme, established residence there.

      A member of the consular guard from 1800, Jérôme was transferred to the navy soon after he was wounded in a duel. He cruised in the West Indies, where he left his ship and went to the United States; there he married (Dec. 24, 1803) Elizabeth (or Elisa) Patterson, whom he brought to Europe in 1805. Napoleon ordered Elizabeth excluded from his states, but Jérôme remained, taking command of a small squadron in the Mediterranean. He then took part in the campaign of 1806. An imperial decree annulled the Patterson marriage. The Emperor then married Jérôme to Princess Catherine of Württemberg and made him king of Westphalia. In the Russian campaign of 1812 Jérôme failed in his assigned mission and was returned to Kassel, Ger.

      In 1813, on the fall of the Napoleonic regime in Germany, Jérôme returned to France. He commanded a division on the French left wing at Waterloo and attacked with great pertinacity. On Napoleon's second abdication Jérôme left France, not returning until 1847 when, after the rise of his nephew Louis-Napoléon, he became, successively, governor of the Invalides, marshal of France, and president of the Senate.

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