Las Cases, Emanuel Augustin Dieudonné, marquis de

HISTORIAN (FRANCE)
BORN 21 Jun 1766, Las Cases (castle near Revel), Languedoc - DIED 15 May 1842, Paris: Passy-sur-Seine
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Passy Cimetière, 2 Rue du Commandant Schloesing (division 09)

Emanuel de Las Cases was educated at military schools in Vendôme and Paris and afterwards joined the navy. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 he left France and he lived for several years in Germany and England. In 1795 he was one of the few survivors of the Quiberon expedition. After he returned to London he lived there in poverty.

During the Consulate he returned to France. In 1802 he published his "Atlas historique, géographique et généalogique" that attracted the attention of Napoleon a few years later. He became a count of the empire and a chamberlain. When Napoleon abdicated he moved to England, but during the Hundred Days he returned to serve the emperor. In 1815 he accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and took notes from his conversations with the emperor, resulting in the "Mémorial de Ste Hélène". Unfortunately he inserted his own thoughts at many points. After trying to smuggle a letter to the former emperor he was seperated from Napoleon on 27 Nov 1816.

After he was expelled from Saint Helena he travelled to Cape of Good Hope and moved on to Europe, where he resided in Brussels. After the death of Napoleon he was allowed to enter France. In September, 1821 his manuscript was returned to him and he published his Mémorial from 1823 onwards. In 1840 he was too ill to join the expedition to St. Helena to recover Napoleon's corpse to France. He died in 1842.

In recent years a version of his manuscript from 1817 was discovered and from this it could largely be inferred which parts really came from Napoleon and which parts were added or altered by Las Casas afterwards.

Related persons
• wrote about Napoleon I Bonaparte

Images

The grave of the Marquis de Las Cases at Passy Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (21 May 1999)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Immanuel - Wikipedia


Lasaulce, Jean Adolphe

Published: 08 Feb 2009
Last update: 25 Apr 2022