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THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE GOVERNMENT OF ST HELENA AND THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON JOIN HANDS TO CREATE SAINT HELENA NAPOLEONIC HERITAGE LIMITED
On 14 October 2015 in the Generals' Wing at Longwood House, two important contracts were signed, putting the finishing touches to the achievements of the appeal “Saving Napoleon's House on St Helena”.
The first of these - signed jointly by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of Ministry of International Development (MAEDI), the Government of St. Helena and the Fondation Napoléon - established a non-profit company, Saint Helena Napoleonic Heritage Ltd.
The purpose of the second contract by the MAEDI was to delegate the daily management of the property and activities of the French Domains of St Helena [that is, Longwood House, The Briars and the Domain of the Tomb] to the newly created company, Saint Helena Napoleonic Heritage Ltd. This is what is known as a “delegation of services”.
For the purpose of signing these important contracts “on site”, Laurent Fabius, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, had delegated his ambassador Jean Mendelson, Goodwill Ambassador, former ambassador to Cuba and former Director of the French Diplomatic Archives. The other signatories of the first agreement were Mark Capes, governor of St Helena, and Victor-André Masséna, Prince d'Essling, president of the Fondation Napoléon. For the second contract Susan O'Bey represented Saint Helena Napoleonic Heritage Ltd.
Some readers have however been unnerved by events. Quick to believe everything they read in the papers, they appear to have taken too literally the long and otherwise excellent article on these contracts in the French weekly magazine Le Point. It is true that the choice of words was unfortunate: the editor wrote that the French state was “getting rid of” the French Domains of St Helena. We would like to reassure everyone that it is in fact the exact opposite which is the case. These contracts (the fruit of much profound, multilateral reflexion) demonstrate that, on the contrary, the interests of these key realms of memory are very dear to the heart of the French Ministry of International Development since the latter are providing these sites with the means for a favourable development which is also consistent with the public interest. The French State is abandoning neither its property nor its responsibilities; it is facilitating management and giving greater independence to these places that simply cannot be managed from Paris within the strict rules of public law. In the same way, there is no change in the way that the collections housed at Longwood are managed. They remain the responsibility of the Director of the French Domains, as they have been in the past.
Let's hope that those who have questioned us, directly or indirectly, will be fully reassured by these clarifications, though it must be said that they were indeed already available in all the documentation which we have distributed over the last four years.
We are also publishing this week a more detailed presentation of these contracts, together with a overview of our "St Helena Month” which we know has been followed with much attention on napoleon.org, on our Facebook page and our Twitter account.
Thierry Lentz
Director of the Fondation Napoléon
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SPECIAL ST HELENA >
NEW MANAGEMENT FOR THE FRENCH DOMAINS OF ST HELENA Find out more about the new arrangements for the management of Longwood House, the Domain of the Tomb and The Briars.
A CLOSE UP ON > LONGWOOD HOUSE AND NAPOLEON'S JOURNEY TO ST HELENA
Over the last month we've been sharing with you paintings, objects and articles relating to Napoleon's exile to St Helena. This special dossier includes all of this material and more on the Emperor's last Exile. Why not check it out?
PHOTO ALBUM > A JOURNEY IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE EMPEROR
Peter Hicks, Director of international Affairs, shares his souvenirs of his journey to St Helena for the bicentenary of Napoleon's landing on the island.
DESTINATION ST HELENA > NEWS ON THE FIRST FLIGHTS FROM LONDON
The first flights to St Helena (from Gatwick UK) have been announced and will coincide with the UK Easter school holidays. They will of course be dependent on the airport at St Helena being opened on schedule in February 2016. The first service will leave London Gatwick in the late evening of Sunday 20 March, arriving mid-morning in St. Helena on Monday 21 March. The aircraft will then leave St Helena around lunchtime, to arrive back in London Gatwick late the same night. Tickets go on sale on 2 November.
And last but not least, Lonely Planet has just voted St Helena island as one of its top ten places to visit in 2016...
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THE 2015 CHAIRE NAPOLÉON STUDY DAY
This year's study day organised by the Fondation Napoléon and the Institut catholique d'études supérieures (ICES), as part of the Chaire Napoléon education program at La Roche-sur-Yon in France will take place on 2 December with the theme: Military affairs under the Consulat and the Empire. Full program with list of participants (in French).
NEW ISSUE OF NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE > 1814, THE YEAR IT ALL CHANGED
Hot of the press, so to speak, Issue Number 22 of Napoleonica LaRevue is the publication of the proceedings of the first study day (2014) for the “Chaire Napoléon” (created by the Fondation Napoleon and the Institut Catholique d'Etudes Supérieurs at La Roche sur Yon, in France). This time, all the articles are in French and can be read online here.
FONDATION NAPOLEON CERCLE d'ETUDES LECTURES
6 November 2015 is the sign-up date for those who wish to attend Frédéric Médard's talk “Aux origines de l'Entente Cordiale : La reine Victoria à l'Exposition universelle de Paris – 18-27 août 1855” which will take place on 19 November 2015 at 6pm (followed by a book signing) at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris. (in French)
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EXHIBITION > SIR HUSSEY VIVIAN, FROM WATERLOO TO WESTMINSTER (ROYAL CORNWALL MUSEUM, UK)
The Royal Cornwall Museum (UK) is staging an exhibition to commemorate Wellington's famous victory over Napoleon's forces at Waterloo by celebrating the life of ‘loyal Truronian' Major-general Sir Richard Hussey Vivian. The highlight of the exhibition will be the rehanging of Sir Martin Archer Shee's newly restored portrait (external link) of Vivian in full military regalia standing alongside his white charger. (Until 2 January 2016).
LAST DAYS > PIERRE-PAUL PRUD'HON: NAPOLEON'S DRAUGHTSMAN (DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY, LONDON, UK)
This exhibition, the first in the UK devoted to the artist, celebrates Prud'hon as court artist to Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte and as one of France's greatest draughtsmen. The display focuses on thirteen of the artist's extraordinary life studies in white and black chalk, remarkable for their ethereal forms, subtlety of light and shade, and mastery of expression. (Until 15 November).
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NEW PROTOCOL FOR LUCCA (ITALY): FROM NAPOLEONIC TO BOURBON CITY
On Thursday, 22 October the city of Lucca in Italy signed a protocol with the association "Napoleon and Elisa: from Paris to Tuscany" intended to promote a synergy as the city becomes (in bicentennial terms) Bourbon. Significantly, over the years, Lucca has benefitted from an influx of French citizens on the trail of Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princess of Lucca from 1805 to 1815, and even more in the past two years, coinciding with the bicentenary of the arrival of Napoleon at Elba and the great battle of Waterloo, which has stimulated tourism in all the Napoleonic places of Europe. The signing of this protocol will deepen and enhance the history of Lucca intersected by the events after the fall of Napoleon in 1815. See the press statement on the website of the City of Lucca (external link) and the text of the Press release from the “Napoleone ed Elisa: da Parigi alla Toscana” association on our website (both in Italian).
BOOK PRESENTATION > NAPOLEON IN TURIN
Dr Alessandro Puato will be presenting his new book “Napoleone a Torino: Le Visite del 1797, 1800, 1805 e 1807” on Friday 27 November at the Palazzo Cisterna (Sala Consiglieri), (via Maria Vittoria 12), an event organized by the publishers Mediares and the City of Turin in partnership with the North Italian Delegation of the Souvenir Napoléonien. More information here (pdf in Italian).
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150 YEARS AGO > THE DEPARTMENT STORE IS BORN
3 November 1865 saw the inauguration of “Printemps”, one of the great Parisian department stores. The Industrial Revolution was accompanied by a commercial revolution that saw the development of a new type of shop, on a hitherto unparalleled scale: Find out in our article why department stores were one of the great innovations of the Second Empire.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 776, 30 OCTOBER - 5 November, 2015
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© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon
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JUST PUBLISHED
WHAT'S ON (see our website for all events)
Conferences
- Waterloo, 1815: The British Monarchy and the Defeat of Napoleon Windsor, UK [14/11/2015]
Talk
- The Napoleonic Wars and why we should remember them by Gareth Howell, Abbingdon, UK [6/11/2015]
Exhibitions
- Sir Hussey Vivian, From Waterloo to Westminster Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, UK [13/06/2015 - 02/01/2016] NEW
- Napoléon (1769-1821), sa vie à travers les femmes Tourist Centre of Wool and Fashion, Verviers, Belgium [10/10/2015 - 28/02/2016] NEW
- From Waterloo to New Jersey: The Bicentennial of King Joseph Bonaparte's Escape to America Pennington School in Pennington, N.J. [17/10/2015 - 20/11/2015]
- Belloir et Vazelle, tapissiers décorateurs du Second Empire Jane Roberts Fine Arts, Paris, France [14/10/2015 - 14/11/2015]
- Splendeurs et misères. Images de la prostitution, 1850-1910 (Splendour and Misery. Pictures of Prostitution) Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France [22/09/2015 - 17/01/2016]
- Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842) Grand Palais, Paris, France [23/09/2015 - 11/01/2016]
- Le Bivouac de Napoléon : luxe et ingéniosité en campagne Galerie des Gobelins, Paris [18/09/2015 - 13/12/2015]
- Daniel Maclise: The Waterloo Cartoon Royal Academy of Arts, UK [02/09/2015 - 03/01/2016]
- Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: Napoleon's Draughtsman Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK [23/06/2015 - 15/11/2015] LAST DAYS
- 'Waterloo and the March of Science' Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath, UK [18/06/2015 - 13/12/2015]
- 'The Road to Waterloo' and ‘Waterloo Lives' Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland [03/02/2015 - 28/11/2015]
- 'Waterloo 1815 - The Battle for Peace' at Wellington Arch and new display at Apsley House London UK [18/04/2015 - 30/12/2015]
'Alexander, Napoleon and Josephine: a story of war, art and friendship' The Hermitage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [28/03/2015 - 08/11/2015] LAST DAYS
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Heritage grant for the restoration of a chapel built to house soldiers during Napoleonic Wars
- Napoleonic Wars Playing Cards
- A Gift to the Emperor Napoleon by a British Admirer
- Campaign launched to restore historic Martello Tower in Clacton
- Felixstowe's Martello Tower receives funding for restoration
SEEN ON THE WEB > ST HELENA
- Paradise lost? Remote Saint Helena braces for tourist influx as airport unveiling edges closer
- Ascension Island Bicentenary
- Remote Atlantic runway to open up Napoleon's hidden island
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
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NAPOLEONICA LES ARCHIVES
Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material:
The working papers or 'imprimés' of the Napoleonic Conseil d'Etat, the correspondence of Vivant Denon, etc.
http://www.napoleonica.org
Contact: napoleonica@napoleon.org
NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
International peer-review interdisciplinary e-review on the history of the two Empires, bilingual French-English, 3 issues per year, free access.
Read the review on Cairn.info
Contact: napoleonicalarevue@napoleon.org
The Fondation Napoléon's Institutional website:
www.fondationnapoleon.org
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