Joséphine, the woman behind the rise of Napoleon

'Napoleon', Ridley Scott’s biopic about the famous French emperor, gives much attention to the historical figure of Joséphine de Beauharnais. She was Napoleon's first wife and, according to the movie, a great influence on his career.

Ambitious, a woman of the world with a romantic destiny, Joséphine is shown in the film as the woman who "made" Napoleon. But who exactly is Joséphine de Beauharnais?

Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie comes from a family of 'Békés:' rich French people living in Martinique who had made their fortune in the sugar trade. She was born on this island and spent her early years there.

How old was Joséphine compared to her famous husband? Imperial almanacs indicate that she was born in 1768, but historians claim that she was really born in 1763. Joséphine cheated on her date of birth all her life to make herself younger. She was actually six years Napoleon's senior.

At first, while living in France, the young woman married Alexandre de Beauharnais in 1779. This general, who would play an important role during the Revolution, was originally supposed to marry Catherine-Désirée, Joséphine's older sister who died of tuberculosis.

Two children were born from this marriage. The first was Eugène, born in 1781, later adopted by Napoleon and viceroy of Italy under the Empire. The second was Hortense, born in 1783. She would marry Louis, one of the emperor's brothers, in 1802, and together they would have the future Napoleon III.

Joséphine and the man who was supposed to marry her late sister didn't get along very well. In fact, Alexandre doubted whether Hortense was even his child. The couple broke up and Joséphine spent her time in a convent before settling in the circles of French high society.

During the Revolution, Alexandre de Beauharnais initially played an important role. At that time, Joséphine readily presented herself as his wife. But the situation deteriorated at the start of the Terror in 1793: Alexander was executed and Joséphine imprisoned.

The political situation eventually calmed down and the widow managed to regain her rank in society. Her skill and assertive character allowed her to begin her rise in Parisian circles.

Around that time, she met another ambitious man: the young officer Napoléon Bonaparte. He fell madly in love with Joséphine. The high-profile couple married on March 9, 1796.

Napoleon was the first to actually call her 'Joséphine.' Her birth name was Marie-Josèphe. The future emperor thus transformed her middle name in a way that would be passed down to posterity.

Joséphine stayed with her husband near Lake Garda in Italy during the victorious Italian campaign that allowed Bonaparte to fulfill his political ambitions.

Nothing could stop this couple's crazy ambitions. After the coup d'état in 1799, Napoleon became First Consul and the most powerful man in France.

When Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, he crowned his wife in a bold gesture during the ceremony given by the pope at the Notre Dame church. She became the first French sovereign to benefit from this honor since Marie de Medici in 1610.

The marriage between Napoleon and Joséphine was controversial. At first, the pope refused to crown a couple that only had a civil marriage, and they had to set up a religious marriage with great urgency. In addition, the relations between Joséphine and Napoleon's family were quite bad.

Empress of the French, Joséphine de Beauharnais enjoyed the ceremonial rank of queen, as can be seen in this painting by Jacques-Louis David. Although she had no official power, she exercised considerable influence in the shadows.

However, the union between the two spouses who dominated Europe was sterile, which posed a problem for Napoleon's succession. He blamed his wife for their apparent incapability of having a child.

Because of this issue, a divorce between the two lovers was inevitable. Napoleon divorced Joséphine in 1809 and married Marie-Louise of Austria. They had a son, Napoleon II, in 1811.

Retired from the imperial court, Joséphine moved to the Château de Malmaison. She did not renounce her lavish lifestyle in high society, which caused Napoleon to have to regularly pay her debts.

No matter how rich she was, the state of medicine in the 19th century could be detrimental to anyone. In 1814, the former empress contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 50. She was buried in a modest funeral.

Adventurer and empress, a woman of power and relationships, Joséphine de Beauharnais experienced an exceptional destiny thanks to the upheavals of French history. In the 2023 film 'Napoleon,' Ridley Scott's camera once again immortalized her legend on the big screen.