Joséphine de Beauharnais

Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de La Pagerie was born in Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique, to a wealthy French family who owned a sugarcane plantation, which is now a museum.[3] The Taschers were an ancient French family of country gentry, and Joséphine's grandfather, Gaspard-Joseph was the first to settle in Le Carbet on Martinique in 1726.[4] He seems to have lived in poverty there, but secured a position as a page for his son, Joseph-Gaspard (1735–1790) in the household of the Dauphine of France, Maria Josepha of Saxony.[4]

After spending three years from 1752 in France, Joseph-Gaspard returned to Martinique and married Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois (1735–1807), whose maternal grandfather, Anthony Brown, may have been Irish.[5] Rose-Claire was from one of the oldest European families on the plantation, and the Tascher family home near Les Trois-Îlets was part of her dowry. Joséphine was their first child, and they had two more: Catherine-Désirée in 1764 and Marie-Françoise in 1766.[4] Joseph-Gaspard earned his living as a plantation owner and a lieutenant of the Troupes de marine, apart from a small pension for his work in the royal household. He was almost always close to bankruptcy and suffered from ill health.[4]

Joséphine was raised by an enslaved nurse called Marion, whose freedom she would secure in 1807.[4] At the age of ten, she and Catherine-Désirée were sent to a boarding school in Fort-Royal, run by the Bénédictines de la Providence. There, they learned to read, write, sing, dance, and embroider for four years. After the death of Catherine-Désirée, Joséphine returned to her parents' plantation.[4]

Alexandre-Francois-Marie, Vicomte de Beauharnais by Georges Rouget

Joséphine's paternal aunt, Marie-Euphémie-Désirée Renaudin, was the mistress of a French naval officer, François de Beauharnais, from a less ancient but richer noble family.[4] While living on Martinique, de Beauharnais had a son, Alexandre, by his wife. Soon, the parents returned to France, and left the infant with the Tascher family until 1766.[4] When he had come of age, his father's mistress, who was also Alexandre's godmother, decided that it would be advantageous to her if he married one of her nieces. Aged seventeen, he judged fifteen-year-old Joséphine to be too close to him in age, and thus, Catherine-Désirée was chosen for him. As the bride's father was impoverished and the bridegroom was to become a wealthy man upon his marriage, he asked for no dowry.[6]

By the time Alexandre's father had proposed in a letter, however, Catherine-Désirée had died. Not wanting to lose the rich suitor, her father offered his youngest daughter instead, which was accepted by Alexandre. Marie-Françoise was not yet twelve, however, and her mother and grandmother were not willing to let her go. In the end, Joséphine was engaged to Alexandre.[7]

In October 1779, she went to France with her father. She married Alexandre on 13 December 1779, in Noisy-le-Grand. They had two children: a son, Eugène de Beauharnais, and a daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais (who later married Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte in 1802). Joséphine and Alexandre's marriage was not a happy one. Alexandre abandoned his family for over a year to live with a mistress and frequented brothels, leading to a court-ordered separation during which Joséphine and the children lived at Alexandre's expense in the Pentemont Abbey.

On 2 March 1794, during the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety ordered the arrest of her husband. He was jailed in the Carmes prison in Paris. Considering Joséphine as too close to the counter-revolutionary financial circles, the Committee ordered her arrest on 18 April 1794. A warrant of arrest was issued against her on 21 April 1794, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes prison until 28 July. During this time, Joséphine was only allowed to communicate with her children by their scrawls on the laundry list, which the jailers soon prohibited.[5]

Her husband was accused of having poorly defended Mainz in July 1793, and being considered an aristocratic suspect, was sentenced to death and guillotined with his cousin Augustin on 23 July 1794, on the Place de la Révolution (today Place de la Concorde) in Paris. Joséphine was freed five days later, thanks to the fall and execution of Robespierre, which ended the Reign of Terror. On 27 July 1794 Tallien arranged the liberation of Thérèse Cabarrus, and soon after that of Joséphine.[5] In June 1795, a new law allowed her to recover the possessions of Alexandre.

The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David (1804)

Empress Josephine in coronation costume in 1807–1808 by François Gérard

Napoleon was elected Emperor of the French in 1804, making Joséphine empress. The coronation ceremony, officiated by Pope Pius VII, took place at Notre-Dame de Paris, on December 2. Napoleon first crowned himself, then put the crown on Joséphine's head, proclaiming her empress. This showed his rejection of the clergy as the power of Europe.

In her role as empress, Napoleon had a court appointed to her and reinstated the offices which composed the household of the queen before the French revolution, with Adélaïde de La Rochefoucauld as Première dame d'honneur, Émilie de Beauharnais as Dame d'atour, and the wives of his own officials and generals, Jeanne Charlotte du Lucay, Madame de Rémusat, Elisabeth Baude de Talhouët, Lauriston, d'Arberg, Marie Antoinette Duchâtel, Sophie de Segur, Séran, Colbert, Savary and Aglaé Louise Auguié Ney, as Dame de Palais.[5]

Shortly before their coronation, there was an incident at the Château de Saint-Cloud that nearly sundered the marriage between the two. Joséphine caught Napoleon in the bedroom of her lady-in-waiting, Élisabeth de Vaudey, and Napoleon threatened to divorce her as she had not produced an heir. Eventually, however, through the efforts of her daughter Hortense, the two were reconciled.[18]

The Divorce of the Empress Josephine in 1809 by Henri Frédéric Schopin

When after a few years it became clear she could not have a child, Napoleon, while still loving Joséphine, began to think about the possibility of an annulment. The final die was cast when Napoleon's nephew Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, who had been declared his heir, died of croup in 1807. Napoleon began to create lists of eligible princesses. At dinner on 30 November 1809, he let Joséphine know that—in the interest of France—he must find a wife who could produce an heir. Joséphine agreed to the divorce so the Emperor could remarry in the hope of having an heir. The divorce ceremony took place on 10 January 1810 and was a grand but solemn social occasion, and each read a statement of devotion to the other.[19]

On 11 March, Napoleon married Marie-Louise of Austria by proxy;[20] the formal ceremony took place at the Louvre in April.[21] Napoleon once remarked that despite her quick infatuation with him, "It is a womb that I am marrying".[22] Even after their separation, Napoleon insisted Joséphine retain the title of empress. "It is my will that she retain the rank and title of empress, and especially that she never doubt my sentiments, and that she ever hold me as her best and dearest friend."

After the divorce, Joséphine lived at the Château de Malmaison, near Paris. She remained on good terms with Napoleon, who once said that the only thing to come between them was her debts. (Joséphine remarked privately, "The only thing that ever came between us was my debts; certainly not his manhood."—Andrew Roberts, Napoleon.) In April 1810, by letters patent, Napoleon created her Duchess of Navarre. Some claim Napoleon and Joséphine were still secretly in love, though it is impossible to verify this.[23]

In March 1811, Marie Louise was delivered of a long-awaited heir, Napoleon II, to whom Napoleon gave the title "King of Rome". Two years later Napoleon arranged for Joséphine to meet the young prince "who had cost her so many tears".

Château de Malmaison near Paris

Joséphine died of pneumonia in Rueil-Malmaison on 29 May 1814, soon after walking with Emperor Alexander I of Russia in the gardens of Malmaison, where she allegedly begged to join Napoleon in exile. She was buried in the nearby church of Saint Pierre-Saint Paul[24] in Rueil. Her daughter Hortense is interred near her.

Napoleon learned of her death via a French journal while in exile on Elba, and stayed locked in his room for two days, refusing to see anyone. He claimed to a friend, while in exile on Saint Helena, that "I truly loved my Joséphine, but I did not respect her."[25] Despite numerous affairs, eventual marriage annulment, and his remarriage, the Emperor's last words on his death bed at St. Helena were: "France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine."("France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine").[26]

Josephine worked with and sought out the works of many artists throughout her lifetime. In the area of painters she mainly was a collector of paintings but she was painted by and worked with several artists such as Jacques-Louis David and Francois Gerard. However, there was one painter whom Josephine favored and commissioned more often than others, Antoine-Jean Gros. Gros, upon hearing that Josephine would be visiting Genoa, worked to get an introduction knowing that the association with Josephine would help him become more well-known.

Upon meeting with Gros and seeing his work, Josephine asked him to come back to Milan with her and to live in her residences. Josephine then commissioned him to create a portrait of her husband, the then General Napoleon. The work took several sittings between Gros and Napoleon and would be named "General Bonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole, November 17th,1796." This painting would become a big part of Napoleon's propaganda and iconography. Gros would go on to paint other portraits of Napoleon, which always portrayed him as a fierce conqueror, propagating the image of Napoleon as powerful and unstoppable. Josephine as a supporter and patron of Gros, aided him in becoming a central conduit for the message that the government was trying to disseminate about the rule of the Emperor in that time.

Antonio Canova Dancer with Her Hands on her Hips, 1812

Over her lifetime Josephine commissioned four major pieces from the Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. The Empress was given a copy of Canova's work Psyche and Cupid, which was originally promised to Colonel John Campbell, but because of unforeseen circumstances it was gifted to Josephine. She would commission Canova to create a sculpture and the result would be Dancer with Hands on Hips. The work commissioned in 1802 but was not finished until 1812, Josephine allowed him to create on his own terms, which were based on the classics but with a more relaxed and joyful appearance. He would create several sculptures based on dancing. Dancer with Hands on Hips was praised by the art community because it was not based on any specific ancient sculpture, but with a classical spin, making it a completely original sculpture.

Josephine would commission Canova again for another sculpture called Paris. The work's plaster cast was completed in 1807 but the marble statue was not finished until 1812. arriving in Malmaison in 1813 a year before Josephine's death. The final sculpture that the Empress would commission was The Three Graces. This work would not be completed until after Josephine's death in 1816. All four works were eventually sold to Tsar Alexander of Russia.[34]

The architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine essentially became the decorators for Josephine and Napoleon. Many of Josephine's most well-known furnishings were created especially for her by Percier and/or Fontaine. The two architects worked within many of the Empire's residences, creating spaces for the Empress to feel at home in. Percier and Fontaine had their own unique style and created pieces for both the Emperor and his Empress, which can be easily identified as their work, even when they were not stamped as created by Percier or Fontaine. Percier and Fontaine are known for their use of cheval glass and the use of a feminine, softer feel for the pieces used in the boudoir of the Empress. These pieces were unique for the time and appreciated for their creativity. The architects Percier and Fontaine are connected to the Empire style associated with the time period.[35]

In 1859, French emperor Napoleon III commissioned a statue of Josephine, which was installed in the La Savane Park in downtown Fort-de-France. In 1991, the statue was symbolically decapitated and spattered with red paint. The acts of vandalism were done on the belief that Joséphine had influenced her husband to issue the Law of 20 May 1802, which reinstated slavery in the French colonial empire (including Martinique).[36] The statue was never repaired by the city administration, and every year more red paint was added to it.[37] In July 2020, the statue was torn down and destroyed by rioters in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[38]

• Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur (1897). Uncle Bernac.
• Fields, Bertram (2015). Destiny: A Novel Of Napoleon & Josephine.
• Gulland, Sandra (1995). The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
• ——— (1998). Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe.
• ——— (2000). The Last Great Dance on Earth.
• Kenyon, F. W. (1952). The Emperor's Lady.
• Mossiker, Frances (1965). Napoleon and Josephine.
• ——— (1971). More Than a Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte.
• Pataki, Allison (2020). The Queen's Fortune: Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire.
• Selinko, Annemarie (1958). Désirée.
• Webb, Heather (2013). Becoming Josephine.
• Winterson, Jeanette (1987). The Passion.
• Parkyn, Stephanie (2019). Josephine's Garden

• Napoléon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) is a miniseries with Napoleon portrayed by Armand Assante and Josephine by Jacqueline Bisset.
• Napoléon (2002) is a historical DVD TV miniseries of Napoleon's life, in which Josephine features prominently, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini.
• In 2015 and 2017, an episode of Horrible Histories called "Naughty Napoleon" and "Ridiculous Romantics" featured Natalie Walter and Gemma Whelan, portraying Joséphine de Beauharnais.

• Ridley Scott 's upcoming 2023 film Napoleon in which Vanessa Kirby will play Joséphine. Jodie Comer was originally cast but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic.[39]

• The love song 'Josephine' from The Magnetic Fields' 1991 album Distant Plastic Trees: "If I were Napoleon, you could be my Josephine ..."
• The song 'Josephine' from Frank Turner's 2015 album Positive Songs for Negative People references Josephine — as well as Josephine Brunsvik — to portray Turner's wish that he has his own muse to influence him.
• The song 'Josephine' from Tori Amos' 1999 partially live album To Venus and Back references the pop-culture expression, supposedly spoken by Napoleon: "Not tonight, Josephine".

• Galliano said that his inspiration was dressing the pregnant rock star Madonna — and then thinking "Empress Josephine."[40]