author
baron de Claude-François Méneval
1778–1850
Best known as Napoleon’s private secretary, he stood close to the center of the First Empire and later turned that experience into vivid memoirs. His writing offers an unusually intimate view of court life, politics, and the daily workings of power.
2 Audiobooks
Marie-Louise et la cour d'Autriche entre les deux abdications (1814-1815)
by baron de Claude-François Méneval
Récit d'une excursion de l'impératrice Marie-Louise aux glaciers de Savoie en juillet 1814
by baron de Claude-François Méneval
About the author
Born in Paris in 1778, Claude-François de Méneval became one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s closest aides, serving as the emperor’s private secretary from 1802 to 1813. He was later granted the title Baron de Méneval, a mark of the trust and status he gained during the First Empire.
After years at the heart of imperial administration, he became known to later readers for his memoirs about Napoleon, the imperial court, and Empress Marie-Louise. Those books helped preserve a firsthand account of how Napoleon’s world functioned behind the scenes.
Méneval died in Paris in 1850. Today he is remembered less as a public statesman than as an observant insider whose recollections remain valuable to anyone curious about Napoleon’s life and court.