author
prince Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte
1815–1881
A fiery Bonaparte prince who moved from revolutionary causes into imperial politics, he is remembered as one of the most turbulent figures in Napoleon’s extended family. His life mixed adventure, scandal, and public controversy in equal measure.
1 Audiobook
Un mois en Afrique
by prince Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte
About the author
Born in Rome on October 11, 1815, Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte was the son of Lucien Bonaparte and a nephew of Napoleon I. Raised within the wider Bonaparte family after the fall of the First Empire, he built a reputation for restlessness and political energy rather than quiet aristocratic life.
As a young man, he took part in revolutionary activity in Italy and later served in the French Constituent Assembly as a deputy for Corsica after 1848. Britannica describes him as a self-proclaimed republican who was later reconciled with his cousin Napoleon III after the coup of 1851, showing how sharply his politics could shift with events.
He is now best known for the violent 1870 incident in which he killed the journalist Victor Noir, a case that caused a major public outcry in France. He died in 1881, leaving behind a story shaped by family legend, political upheaval, and his own combative temperament.