Letizia Ramolino
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Maria Letizia Bonaparte née Ramolino (Marie-Lætitia Ramolino) (24 August 1750 – 2 February 1836) was the mother of Napoleon I of France.
She was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, to Giovanni Geronimo Ramolino (13 April 1723 – 1755) and Angela Maria Pietrasanta (circa 1725 – 1790). The Ramolinos were a mediocre rank of nobility in the Republic of Genoa. Letizia was not formally educated.
On 2 June 1764, when she was 14, she marrried attorney Carlo Buonaparte. She bore 13 children, eight of whom survived infancy, and most of which survivors were made monarchs by Napoleon:
- Napoleone Buonaparte (1764/1765 – 17 August 1765)
- Maria Anna Buonaparte (3 January 1767 – 1 January 1768)
- Joseph Bonaparte (7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844)
- Napoleon I of France (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), Emperor of the French and namesake of his deceased older brother
- Maria Anna Buonaparte (1770), namesake of her deceased older sister
- Maria Anna Buonaparte (14 July – 23 November 1771), namesake of her deceased older sisters
- A stillborn son
- Lucien Bonaparte (21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), Prince of Canino
- Elisa Bonaparte (13 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), Grand Duchess of Tuscany
- Louis Bonaparte (2 September 1779 – 25 July 1844), King of Holland
- Pauline Bonaparte (20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825), Sovereign Princess and Duchess of Guastalla
- Caroline Bonaparte (24 March 1782 – 18 May 1839), Grand Duchess of Berg and Cleves, wife of Joachim Murat, later queen consort of Naples
- Jérôme Bonaparte (15 November 1784 - 24 June 1860), King of Westphalia.
She was a harsh mother, and had a very down-to-earth view of most things. When most European mothers, even those in the upper class, bathed perhaps once a month, she had her children bathed every other day.
When France under the Ancien Régime took control of Corsica, in 1769, French became the national language, but Letizia never learned the tongue. When she was 35, her husband died of cancer. She was decreed "Her Imperial Highness Madame, Mère of the Emperor" on 23 March 1805.
She died in Rome.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia.
