comte de Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné Las Cases

Born in 1766 in Languedoc, Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, comte de Las Cases, was a French aristocrat, naval officer, geographer, and writer. During the upheavals of the French Revolution he left France, and while in exile in England he worked on an Atlas historique, a project that later helped build his reputation.

After returning to France, he entered Napoleon's circle and eventually followed the former emperor into exile on Saint Helena in 1815. There he kept detailed notes of Napoleon's conversations and reflections, creating the material that would become his most famous work.

Published after his return, Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène made Las Cases widely known and played a major part in spreading the Napoleonic legend across Europe. He died in 1842, remembered less as a statesman than as the attentive recorder who gave later generations one of their most vivid portraits of Napoleon in defeat.