Page 74 - All About History - Issue 52-17

HERO
HERO

OR
VILLAIN?
VILLAIN?

Joséphine de

Beauharnais

Prisoner, empress, Barbie doll and wife of one
of history’s most infamous men, was Joséphine

Bonaparte saint or sinner?

Written by Catherine Curzon
t is the curse of some women in history to be heir to her lover’s fortune and the viscounty that
defined solely by the men in their lives and went with it.
one such woman is, undoubtedly, Joséphine As it turns out, little Catherine didn’t live to 13
de Beauharnais, better known to history and died before the wedding could take place.
Ias Mrs Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon and Co-opted into her sister’s bridal role, Joséphine’s life
Joséphine’s romance is iconic, legendary in fact, now changed forever.
and the two remain inextricably linked, even Joséphine was 16 when she married Alexandre,
though their at times immensely passionate union and together the couple would have two children,
ended in divorce. Yet Joséphine’s early days were Eugène and Hortense. Until this point, nobody
tumultuous and this former prisoner of the French had really considered the young and insignificant
revolution knew a thing or two about survival, long Joséphine would amount to much, yet when the
before she ever laid eyes on the Little Corporal. Reign of Terror swept through France, she found
Born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie her life change course inescapably. Although he
in 1763 in Martinique, Joséphine was the daughter had supported the revolutionary cause, Alexandre
of a plantation owner and his wife. The couple hit fell victim to infighting and when he failed to
hard times when hurricanes destroyed their crops defend Mainz against Austrian troops, he was
and for years they battled to keep their heads above literally for the chop.
water – all efforts to rebuild the family business Alexandre went to the guillotine and for the first
meeting with failure. Yet there was a small light time in her life, Joséphine knew how it felt to be in
on the horizon, for one of Joséphine’s aunts just the spotlight as an enemy of the people. She was
happened to be the mistress of a wealthy man. flung into prison and there languished for three
She arranged for Joséphine’s 12-year-old sister, terrible months. Robespierre fell just days after her
Catherine, to marry Alexandre de Beauharnais, the husband died on the scaffold and the supposedly
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