Napoleone di Buonaparte was born on Corsica on August 15, , just 15 months after France had purchased the island from the Italian city-state of Genoa. But when the French quickly overwhelmed local resistance fighters, Carlo began collaborating with them.
At age 9, Napoleone, nicknamed Nabulio, was sent to school in mainland France, where he learned to speak fluent French. He never lost his Corsican accent, however, and was purportedly mocked for it by his classmates and, later on, by the soldiers under his command.
After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the former emperor was placed in a 'wretched' home on a remote island. A prominent cartoonist's mocking depiction of the French emperor managed to stick through the centuries. Though briefly beneficial for career advancement, such ties to the Robespierres proved costly once they were overthrown in July and sent to the guillotine. Napoleon, for one, was arrested on suspicion of treason upon returning from a diplomatic mission to Genoa. Luckily for him, he was released within two weeks and soon after regained his position in the army.
He then helped repel a royalist attack on Paris prior to leading a successful conquest of northern Italy that turned him into one of the most prominent figures in France.
I left you victories, I find defeat! A new government was then set up with three consuls: Napoleon, who as first consul was by far the most powerful, and two former directors who were in on the coup plot. In , Napoleon became first consul for life, and in , at age 35, he crowned himself emperor.
