N & E
Napoléon & Empire

Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)

Empress of the French

Arms of Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)

Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie was born on June 23rd, 1763 in Trois-Ilets, Martinique, French West Indies. She is the daughter of Joseph Gaspard de Tascher de la Pagerie, and Rose Claire des Vergers de Sannois.

She is only sixteen years old when she marries Viscount Alexandre François Marie de Beauharnais, a French army officer. They have two children: a son, Eugene, who will become Viceroy of Italy, and a daughter, Hortense, who will marry Louis Bonaparte and be the mother of Emperor Napoleon III and the Duke of Morny.

The Beauharnais separates soon. The Viscount is guillotined in 1794, and Marie-Josephe-Rose passes near the beheading...

Prominent under the French Directory, despite her poor financial situation, she became the mistress of Paul Barras. The latter, seeking to get rid of her, introduces her to a young officer who seems destined for a successful career: General Napoleon Bonaparte.

Josephine (this is how Napoleon names her) is neither in love nor persuaded the young man's skills, his junior by six years, to find a place in the spheres of power. She however marries him, civilly, on March 9, 1796.

Under the Directory, the couple's life is made of numerous infidelities; it stabilizes during the Consulate.

She is made Empress by Napoleon himself at the coronation  The coronation of Napoleon, by J.L. David on December 2nd, 1804. However, she doesn't give him the heir to the throne he awaits. The desire of the Emperor to found a dynasty forces him to divorce his wife in 1810.

She retires to her Castle of Malmaison  Castle of Malmaison, and is dedicated to her passion for botany.

While Napoleon is in Elba, and the Allied armies are in Paris, she is proud to show her garden to Tsar Alexander I. But, dressed too lightly, she became ill and is carried off by pneumonia on May 29th, 1814.

Empress Josephine de Beauharnais is buried at St-Pierre-Saint-Paul Church  Tomb of Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, at Rueil-Malmaison.

"Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French", by Robert Jacques François Faust Lefèvre (Bayeux 1755 - Paris 1830).

"Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French", by Robert Jacques François Faust Lefèvre (Bayeux 1755 - Paris 1830).

Other portraits

Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French", by Antoine-Jean Gros (Paris 1771 - Meudon 1835).
Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French", by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (Cluny 1758 - Paris 1823).
Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Empress Josephine" by Firmin Massot (Geneva 1766 - Geneva 1849).
Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Empress Josephine" painted 1806 by François Pascal Simon Gérard (Rome 1770 - Paris 1837).
Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Empress Josephine" painted 1807 by Andrea Appiani (Milan 1754 - Milan 1817).
Marie-Josèphe-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, a.k.a. Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
 Agrandir
"Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French", painted 1807 by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (Cluny 1758 - Paris 1823).