Mathilde Bonaparte
| Mathilde Bonaparte | |
|---|---|
| Princesse Française | |
_par_Dubufe_en_1861.jpg)
Édouard Dubufe, Princess Mathilde, 1861
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| Born |
27 May 1820 Trieste, Italy |
| Died | 2 January 1904 (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Spouse |
Anatole Demidov Claudius Marcel Popelin |
| House | Bonaparte |
| Father | Jérôme Bonaparte |
| Mother | Catharina of Württemberg |
Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess of San Donato (27 May 1820 – 2 January 1904), was a French princess and salonnière. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg.
Born in Trieste, Mathilde Bonaparte was raised in Florence and Rome. She was originally engaged to her first cousin, the future Napoleon III of France, but the engangement was broken following his imprisonment at Ham. She married a rich Russian nobleman, Anatole Demidov, on November 1, 1840 in Rome. Anatole was raised to the station of Prince by Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany shortly before the wedding to fulfill the wishes of Mathilde's father and to preserve Mathilde's station as Princess. Anatole's princely title was never recognised in Russia. They had no children.
The marriage between these two strong and prominent personalities was stormy. Prince Demidoff insisted on keeping his lover, Valentine de St Aldegonde, which of course was fiercely resisted by Mathilde. In 1846, Mathilde fled the household for Paris with her new lover Émilien de Nieuwerkerke and with Anatole's jewelry. The jewelry constituted the dowry that Anatole was forced to bankroll for his father-in-law so it formed the property of Anatole.
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