Napoleon’s Proconsul in Egypt: The life and times of Bernardino Drovetti

The early nineteenth century was the ‘heroic age’ of Egyptology, marked by characters such as Champollion, Belzoni and Salt. But it was also a period dominated by Napoleon, who had led his ill-considered invasion of Egypt in 1798-99. Bernardino Drovetti was Napoleon’s proconsul in Egypt and one of the most important figures in Egypt of the day. And yet there has never been a biography and what is said of him in general works is mostly erroneous. Drovetti, a Piedmontese soldier and lawyer, was consul for the first thirty years of the century and he was to play a leading role in many fields: notably diplomacy, politics, archaeology and exploration. Most importantly of all, it was his support which ensured both the coming to power and the continuing reign of dynasty of Mehmet Ali, which ruled in Egypt until 1952 – see the site’s exhibition on the Suez Canal for biographies of two of Ali’s illustrious nephews, Mohammed Said /us/us_mu/suez_us/html-content/historique/txt-004.html and Ismail Pasha /us/us_mu/suez_us/html-content/historique/txt-014.html, and their role in the building of the Suez canal. Until now, all that is known about Drovetti has come from the particularly hostile narrative by Belzoni. The present biography, based on published and archival sources, attempts to redress the balance.Ronald Ridley holds a personal chair in History at the University of Melbourne.