Bonaparte

Bonaparte, family name of the Emperor Napoleon I. The Italian spelling, Buonaparte, was general until Napoleon adopted the French form in 1796. The family emigrated to the island of Corsica in the 16th century, and Napoleon was born there in 1769. His older brother, Joseph (1768–1844), was king of Naples (1806–08) and of Spain (1808–13); his youngest brother, Jérôme (1784–1860), held the throne of Westphalia (1807–13). Napoleon's son by Empress Marie Louise of Austria was hailed by supporters as Napoleon II (1811–32) and king of Rome (1811–14), but he never reigned in France. Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte; 1808–73), the son of Napoleon I's brother Louis, became emperor of France after a coup in 1852, establishing the Second Empire. He was deposed in 1870.

See also: Napoleon I; Napoleon II; Napoleon III.