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Élisa Bonaparte

Elisa Bonaparte
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Princess of Lucca and Piombino
Countess of Compignano
Marie Guilhelmine Benoist 001.jpg
Elisa Bonaparte (about 1805, painted by Marie-Guillemine Benoist).
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Reign 3 March 1809 – 1 February 1814
Predecessor Louis II as King of Etruria
Successor Ferdinand III
Princess of Lucca and Piombino
Reign 19 March 1805 – 18 March 1814
Successor Maria Luisa as Duchess of Lucca
Born (1777-01-03)3 January 1777
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Died 7 August 1820(1820-08-07) (aged 43)
Trieste, Austrian Empire
Spouse Felice Pasquale Baciocchi
Issue Felix Napoléon Baciocchi
Elisa Napoléone Baciocchi
Jérôme Charles Baciocchi
Frédéric Napoléon Baciocchi
Full name
Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy
House Bonaparte
Father Carlo Buonaparte
Mother Letizia Ramolino
Religion Roman Catholicism
Full name
Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy

Maria Anna (Marie Anne) Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy, Princesse Française, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Countess of Compignano (3 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), was the fourth surviving child and eldest surviving daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. A younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, she had elder brothers Joseph and Lucien, and younger siblings Louis, Pauline, Caroline and Jerome.

As Princess of Lucca and Piombino, then Grand Duchess of Tuscany, she became Napoleon's only sister to possess political power. Their relations were sometimes strained due to her sharp tongue. Highly interested in the arts, particularly the theatre, she encouraged them in the territories over which she ruled.

Élisa was born in Ajaccio, Corsica. She was christened Maria-Anna, but later officially adopted the nickname "Élisa" (her brother Lucien, to whom she was very close in childhood, nicknamed her Elisa). In June 1784, a bursary allowed her to attend the Maison royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr, where she was frequently visited by her brother Napoleon. Following the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly decreed the Maison's closure on 16 August 1792 as it shut down institutions associated with the aristocracy. Élisa left on 1 September with Napoleon to return to Ajaccio.

Around 1795, the Bonaparte family relocated to Marseille. There Élisa got to know Felice Pasquale Baciocchi (who later adopted the surname Levoy). A Corsican nobleman and formerly a captain in the Royal Corse, he had been dismissed from his rank with the outbreak of the French Revolution.


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