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DEATH OF OLIVIER LE FUEL, TREASURER OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON
The Baron Gourgaud and the Board of Trustees of the Fondation Napoléon are sad to announce the death of Olivier Le Fuel, treasurer of the Fondation Napoléon, 27 June, 2004.
Trustee of the Fondation since its creation in 1987, Olivier Le Fuel was elected treasurer in January 1993, a post in which he remained until his death. Art expert and descended from a long line of famous architects and cabinet makers, Monsieur Le Fuel was also in charge of the Fondation's collection, over which he was a careful steward, adding objects and pieces of outstanding value, not least from his own collection. Olivier Le Fuel was 75 years old.
THIS MONTH'S PAINTING
In 1798, Gérard painted the portrait of the beautiful Comtesse Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély. Exhibited at the Salon of 1799 and highly praised by critics, the work was, according to contemporaries, the very image of the model.
NAPOLEON CELEBRATED BY 'LA POSTE'
On the occasion of the bicentenary of the 'Napoleonic' year 1804, 'La Poste' (the French postal services) has brought out a special commemorative ensemble: a series of six stamps with illustrations of toy soldiers based on the historical figurines held at the Musée de l'Armée; a special popup collector's pack and an accompanying pop'up book (all in French, of course) - web order from 12 July. And part of the purchase price is donated to the Red Cross.
SUMMER OPENING TIMES AT THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON - M. LAPEYRE
The library will begin operating summer opening times from Wednesday 12 July until Thursday 13 August. In other words, the library will only be open two days a week, Wednesdays (1-6pm) and Thursdays (10am to 3pm). Starting from Monday 16 August, normal opening hours re-apply: Monday and Wednesday 1 to 6pm, TUesday from 4 to 9pm (last possible entrance 8pm) and Thursday from 10am to 3pm.
200 YEARS AGO
In the month of Messidor, intensely involved in preparation for the descent on England, Napoleon had new ideas both for finding extra soldiers and sailors and for resting those already enrolled:
13 Messidor (2 June), he encouraged Vice-Admiral Decrès in his recruitment efforts suggesting: "It is still possible to raise more sailors; give orders for a general 'Press'. The 400 sailors whom we wish to retrain should be sent to the hospitals; they should be examined in port. The squadron has no need for weak men; but these men could be in full health in five to six months time and become good sailors."
Correspondance, n° 7833
16 Messidor (5 July), Napoleon proposed to Conseiller d'Etat, Lacuée:
"many of the Chefs de Corps would like to offer the chevron of promotion and the high pay that goes with it without demanding activity; they think that this would make old soldiers stay on with the corps and would authorise the Chefs de Corps never to deliver definitive leave. [...] I think that a little bill on this subject would be appropriate."
Correspondance, n° 7847
The higher pay, on top of everyday pay, was awarded to soldiers with 10, 15 or 20 years service under their belts who agreed to sign on for another tour of duty. The chevron was a chevron-shaped band of red wool sewn onto the left sleeve - the number of chevrons indicated the number of years service, 1 chevron for 10 years' service, 2 chevrons for 15 to 20 years and 3 chevrons for 20 to 25 years. These dispositions appeared in the bill dated 3 Thermidor, An X (22 July, 1802).
150 YEARS AGO
It was into a modest family of teachers that Leos Janacek was born on 3 July, 1854, in Hukvaldy, a small village in Northern Moravia. Alongside his teacher training - he was to be a teacher until 1904 - Janacek studied organ and composition in Germany and in Austria. On his return to Brno in 1881, he founded an organ school of which he was the director until 1919. Janacek's work combined his own sympathies with Russian writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and his great interest for the folk culture of his native land, particularly traditional folk songs. Indeed, he was to use the Czech language and his Moravian dialect in his first operas, written during the 1890s. He met with great success in 1910 with his opera Jenufa (composed in 1903 but for a long time rejected by theatres), and this gave him a much-needed injection of enthusiasm and creative vigour leading to the following remarkable works: Taras Bulba (1915-1918), Katya Kabanova (1921), The Cunning Little Vixen (1924), The Makropoulos Case (1923-1925), the Sinfonietta (1926), and the Second String Quartet (1928) entitled 'Personal letters'.
He died on 12 August, 1928, in Ostrava (on the Oder river, 15km from the Polish border).
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Websites
Les amis du Musée Murat (The Friend of the Musée Murat)
Go to the Napoleonic Directory and select 'Associations' in the web sites scroll bar menu
What's on
- Conference: Napoleonic Association, UK
- Conference: Napoleonic Society of America, Annual Conference, Washington
Conference: Napoleonic Alliance, Annual Conference, Boston
- Exhibition: Was für ein Theater, Krönungen & Spektakel in napoleonischer Zeit
(What a show! Coronations and pomp in the Napoleonic period), Château d'Arenenberg, Switzerland
- Exhibition: Giovanni Spadolini's passion for Napoleon: a tale of history, politics and culture, Elba, Italy
- Conference: England and Hanover, Cambridge (UK)
- Exhibition: Napoleon: the Emperor's coming! Veneration and myth in Coblenz (Germany)
- Exhibition: Napoleon and Poland (Saint-Cloud)
- Festival: 1st Open-Air Napoleonic Film Festival (Saint-Cloud)
- Exhibition: Napoleon. The Sacre, at the Musée Fesch, Ajaccio
- Exhibition: Napoleon and the sea, a dream of Empire, Paris
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Napoleon: Centres of power, by Bernard Chevallier
- This month's painting: the Comtesse Regnaud de Saint-Jean'Angély, by Gérard
- This month's article: Naval warfare of a new kind during the Napoleonic age: The case of the Anglo-American war of 1812-1814 - part 2, by Sylvain Pagé
- In the Collectors Corner, scale model of the frigate La Muiron
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