12 Interesting Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte

Do you want to know some interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte?

He was born Napoleone Buonaparte, but he changed it later. Napoleon was born in Corsica on 15 August 1769. His father was a low-ranking nobleman who had battled in the French Revolution.

When Napoleon was a child, his family relocated to France, where he eventually attended military school and began his military career.

He had a lot of training in the military and became a great strategist and leader of men in battle. His success in war made him well-known.

During the French Revolution, Napoleon became famous and was one of the youngest French generals.

But Napoleon’s life was not without its share of trouble. Here are some exciting facts you might not have known about the first French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte.

12 Interesting Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte

1. Napoleon Bonaparte was originally a Corsican nationalist

When he was young, Napoleon longed for the French to leave his country, which, at the time, was an Italian-speaking Republic.

Before Napoleon was born, his parents were against French rule. And as a young man, he wrote stories in which he referred the French as beasts who were the free people’s enemies.

In the 1780s and 1790s, Napoleon came back to Corsica to avoid the French Revolution. When he came home, he saw how small the island was compared with the rest of the world.

His habits and worries became more French. Napoleon used to look up to Corsican president Pasquale Paoli. After a fight with Paoli’s family, Napoleon left Corsica.

2. Napoleon was a frustrated romance novelist

Behind the vicious combat façade, Napoleon was a romantic at heart, and this was evidenced by his sentimental love letters and a romance novella that was discovered recently.

The said novella, Clisson et Eugénie, was pennes in 1795, when Napoleon was twenty-six years old. It is short – just 17 pages of sensual self-mythologizing that, based on the majority of reviews, does not define him as a lost literary genius.

3. Napoleon Bonaparte disguised himself and walked the streets

One of the interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte is when he was at the top of his power, he liked to dress up as a lower-class citizen and walk around Paris. He reportedly asked random people on the street what they thought of the Emperor to learn what the common man thought of him.

4. He was tone-deaf

One of the traits that made Napoleon the least endearing to those around him was his propensity for singing – which was said to be more like mumbling and humming than real singing – whenever he was stressed out.

Unfortunately, several accounts suggest that his “singing” voice was not musical. This was a huge disappointment.

5. Napoleon’s army discovered the Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is a piece of granite with hieroglyphic, demotic, and ancient Greek writing carved into it. It is now kept at the British Museum in London. It was a crucial part of figuring out how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs.

It has been known for a long time as a significant artifact. Lesser-known fact is that it was found by soldiers from Napoleon’s army in Egypt in 1799.

6. Beethoven planned to dedicate his third symphony to Napoleon

Ludwig van Beethoven admired Napoleon even during his early years as First Consul after deposing the existing government. Beethoven claimed to be inspired by Napoleon’s heroic exploits and presumably democratic ideals when he began work on Symphony 3.

But, despite proclaiming himself First Consul for Life, Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France in 1804, and Beethoven lost all respect for him. 

However, Beethoven appears to have stayed troubled about his former idol. In a later document, he admitted that “the title of the symphony really is ‘Bonaparte,’” and when it was published in 1806 under the title “Sinfonia Eroica,” he admitted it was composed to honor the memory of “a great man.”

7. He was the basis for the “Napoleon complex”

Napoleon has come to be associated with shortness. In fact, the term “Napoleon complex,” which is used to describe people who are short and overly aggressive, is conceptually linked to his legendary diminutive stature.

When he died, however, Napoleon stood 5 feet 2 inches in French units, which, in modern units is about 5 feet 6.5 inches tall. This was a pretty average height for a man at the time.

8. Napoleon attempted to spread religious tolerance

Napoleon was a baptized Catholic. However, his writings show he questioned Catholicism and even God’s existence early on. Napoleon lacked personal faith but admired organized religion’s tactical power.

After becoming powerful in France, he re-established the Catholic Church, which had been nearly destroyed by the Revolution, and brought it under state control.

As emperor, Napoleon freed the Jews in Europe and allowed them to own assets and worship freely. It was a proclamation that earned him condemnation as the “Antichrist and the Enemy of God” by the Russian Orthodox Church. Napoleon believed this freedom of religion would attract Jews to French territories.

According to some scholars, Napoleon was also fascinated with Islam and Muhammad.

9. He was a superstitious man

Another interesting information about Napoleon is that he was said to be superstitious, which might not be surprising since he was afraid of cats and snakes.

Napoleon Bonaparte had an exciting view of life: he thought a lucky star could let him know what to do. He is said to have always carried a lucky charm with him.

Napoleon thought some people had bad luck. He also thought that Josephine, his first wife, brought him luck.

10. His wife Josephine was an unfaithful woman

Josephine put up with his passion, but she didn’t like it. While Napoleon was off conquering Italy in the summer of 1796, she even cheated on him. However, when he confronted her about the affair, the balance of power between them changed.

Even though she was an excellent First Lady, Josephine didn’t give Bonaparte the heir he desperately needed to keep his line going. Napoleon annulled his marriage to Josephine in 1810 and married Marie-Louise of Austria to provide France with an heir and ally.

11. Napoleon Bonaparte tried to take his own life

As part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, signed on 11 April 1814, Napoleon was forced to step down because of the Sixth Coalition and a failed campaign in Russia.

When he was sentenced to exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon tried to kill himself with a poison pill he had been carrying eith him since the failure in Russia.

On April 12, he finally took the pill. But it must have lost its power over time because it only made the man very sick but did not kill him.

12. Napoleon’s death is believed to have a foul play

Napoleon died on Saint Helena, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, at the age of 51.

The listed official cause of death, however, was stomach cancer, although some suspect foul play. Hair samples with a high dosage of arsenic suggest that he was poisoned, but traces of this deadly chemical had also been found in the wallpaper of his bedroom.

The real cause of Napoleon’s death has never been determined conclusively, and today it still remains wrapped in rumors and conspiracy theories.