| |
| |
THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Ratapoil
Initially a magazine caricature, the figure shown here in its later modeled form is called 'Ratapoil' (literally 'naked rat'). On the occasion of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte's election to the presidency of the Second French Republic, on 10 December, 1848, Daumier created it as a caricature of a propaganda agent in the pay of the regime. After the Coup d'Etat of 2 December, 1851 and Napoleon III's consolidation of his power, this small plaster cast had to be carefully hidden in order to escape the censor. © RMN
|
|
|
| |
SOLEMN MASS IN HONOUR OF NAPOLEON AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE GRANDE ARMEE
On 6 May at the cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris, a solemn mass will be celebrated at 11am (please arrive before 10-45am) in memory of Napoleon (d. 5 May, 1821) and the soldiers of the Grande Armée. The officiant will be Mons. Patrick Le Gal, bishop to the French army. Other services are being organised by the regional delegations of the association, the Souvenir Napoléonien, notably in the cathedral Sainte Réparate in Nice and in Strasbourg.
|
|
|
| |
FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS
The Board of Trustees of the Fondation Napoléon welcomes two new members. Ronald Zins, recently elected president of the association, the Souvenir Napoléonien, replaces the Baron de Méneval, and Anne-Marie Desbordes is to replace Paul-Marc Seta, who died last year. Doctor Desbordes has been delegate for the Auvergne region of the Souvenir Napoléonien for many years.
The Fondation Napoléon standing committee is now as follows: Victor-André Masséna, Prince d'Essling (president), Bernard Chevallier (vice-president), Ronald Zins (secretary), Comte Nicolas Walewski (treasurer) and Maurice Bernard-Catinat (vice-treasurer).
For more information on the Board of Trustees, click here.
Furthermore, Jean-François Lemaire has joined the jury for the Fondation Napoléon history prizes, as a replacement for colonel Willing, a specialist in the history of the French army in the Napoleonic period and who wished to retire for personal reasons. Doctor Lemaire won a Fondation Napoléon history prize in 1999 for his book, Les Blessés dans les armées napoléoniennes.
For more information on the History Prizes and the jury, click here.
|
|
|
| |
200 YEARS AGO
On 22 April, 1806, the reform of the Banque de France was voted by the Corps législatif.
The United Merchants' crisis (the "crise des Négociants Réunis") of autumn 1805 led Napoleon to reform Banque de France: "I must be master of all I get involved in, especially Banque de France matters; the bank belongs much more to the emperor than to its shareholders because the bank mints coin." A governor was appointed to oversee all Banque de France business, and he was to be assisted by two deputies called under-governors.
On the same day, 22 April, 1806, Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles de Villeneuve, broken by the defeat at Trafalgar, committed suicide in Rennes, Britany.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Easter.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 368, 21 - 27 April, 2006
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation.
© 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
WEB SITES
- "Muck and Brass"
As a 19th-century business magnate instill civic pride and and run your own town...
Go to the Napoleonic Directory and select "History" in the websites scrollbar menu
JUST PUBLISHED
- In the wake of Napoleon, The Dutch in time of War 1792-1815, by Mark van Hattem et al.
WHAT'S ON
Conferences:
- The Paris Congress (1856), a founding moment, Paris, France
- In the embrace of France: The Law of Nations and Constitutional Law in the French Satellite States of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Age (1795-1813), Tillburg, The Netherlands
Commemorations:
- Jena 1806-2006 - Rendezvous in Thuringia The "Journées de Thuringe 2006" and the bicentenary of the Battle of Jena/Auerstädt
Exhibitions:
- Il tempo dell'Imperatore: gli orologi restaurati delle residenze di Napoleoni all'Elba
- Treasures of the Fondation, Mexico 2006, Monterrey, Mexico
- Napoléon an intimate portrait, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
- "Battle in a sittingroom." The Austerlitz wallpaper, Museo Napoleonico, Rome, Italy
- "Beauty celebrating power": Vincenzo Monti in the Napoleonic period, Milan, Italy
- Louis Napoleon: at the court of the first King of Holland, 1806-1810, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Entertainments:
Thursdays at the Museum of Florida History, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Got a problem with the letter? Try the home page: http://www.napoleon.org
<<
|
|
