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"POISONING" OF NAPOLEON : THE END OF THE AFFAIR.
The November edition of the French periodical Sciences et Vie has published a serious study of the theory that Napoleon was 'poisoned', in which the question is revisited by researchers from the CEA, the Orsay synchrotron and from the Toxicology laboratory of the Préfecture de Paris, completed by a detailed study of the Emperor's final illness by doctor Di Constanzo, hepato-gastro-enterologist at the Sainte-Marguerite hospital in Marseilles.
What comes out of this work, on the one hand, is that there are large quantities of arsenic in Napoleon's hair in 1805, 1806, 1814, 1816 and 1821, as well as in those of his sisters (Caroline, Pauline and Elisa) - a fact which would tend to show not that there was intentional 'poisoning' on Saint Helena, but rather that the arsenic (whose provenance furthermore could be exogenous) is present fifteen years earlier - and on the other hand that the symptoms and the autopsy report allow a conclusion of the onset of multiples afflictions, notably stomach cancer.
These conclusions, carefully presented in the volume of Sciences et Vie, close the debate, as far as I am concerned, and as far as the scientific speculations on this affair are concerned. Hence the title of the magazine: Napoleon was not murdered.
Furthermore, following Jean-François Lemaire and the author of this present text, Professor Jean Tulard has pronounced himself clearly against the poisoning theory, stating that all the doubts he had expressed in the past had been removed. During a press conference organised by the magazine, he pronounced irrefutable historical conclusions on the subject and cited once again the rules of historical research which, in his opinion, had not been respected by the proposers of the poisoning theory.
Thus, for this affair which in the past forty years had caused so much ink to run, the case is closed.
Now is the time to return to real Napoleonic studies.
Thierry Lentz
NEW QUIZ
Try out our new quiz 'Napoleon at the cinema'
BOOK OF THE MONTH
The conflict that took place in Spain and Portugal between 1808 and 1814 after Napoleon's invasion was a defining moment in Iberian history. Charles Esdaile's The Peninsular War tells the tale.
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
10 Brumaire, An XI (1 November, 1802), the Théâtre-Français de la République (under the direct control of the Ministre de l'intérieur), the Théâtre de l'Opéra-comique, the Théâtre Louvois and the Théâtre du Vaudeville merged and gave sole rights for the publication of their programmes to Le Moniteur and Le Journal de Paris. The actors and theatre owners took this decision because they were annoyed by the large amount of criticism published in other newspapers. Furthermore, they stopped allowing journalists free entry to shows.
11 Brumaire, An XI (2 November, 1802), General Leclerc, Napoleon's brother-in-law, died of yellow fever in Santo Domingo. Notwithstanding the capture of Toussaint Louverture, the insurrection on the island continued and began to spread.
For a new biography of Leclerc, click here.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Snippets
- Wellington responsible for first train accident
- Update on the Napoleonic mass graves in Lithuania
Just published
The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and hidden error that transformed the world - Ken Alder
What's on
- Napoleon and Alexander I in Hildesheim (Germany)
- Exhibition: Nelson & Emma, Personal Pots and Lasting Mementos
- Exhibition: Seat of Empire
The monthly titles
- Book of the Month: The Peninsular War, by Charles Esdaile
- This month's picture, The Immortality of Nelson (1807), by Benjamin West
- Article of the Month, The First Italian Campaign: Act One, by Jacques Jourquin
- In the Collectors Corner, The Traveller, by Meissonier
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