Bonaparte, Joseph

b. 7 January 1768, Corte

d. 28 July 1844, Florence

Napoleon's elder brother. Had been destined for the priesthood, but after the death of his father he went to study in Pisa, and in 1788 became a lawyer in Bastia. When the Bonapartes were forced to leave Corsica he became a commissary with the Army of Italy. He married Julie Clary, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, on 1 August 1794. He undertook various diplomatic or political tasks between 1797 and 1806, when Napoleon made him King of Naples. In 1808 he was placed on the throne of Spain, and found himself in the middle of the most savage conflict of the period. He abdicated on 7 January 1814. During the Hundred Days, he supported Napoleon again, and went into exile in America after Waterloo. He remained there, apart from a couple of trips to England, until 1841, when his poor health gained him permission to live in Florence. Sources: Balteau, J. and others. Dictionnaire de biographie française, 1933-, vol. 6, p. 918; Michaud. Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne, 1843-?, vol. ?

No biography in Bouvier, F. Bonaparte en Italie, 1796, 1899.