Louis-Lucien Bonaparte (1813-1891) - Find a Grave Memorial

French Nobility, Statesman. He was born in exile in England; but, in 1814, his parents returned to Italy, where he was educated at the Jesuit College in Urbino. He did not visit France until 1848. After Louis-Philippe was overthrown in that year, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Representative for Corsica. This election was, however, held to be null and void, but he returned the following year, representing the Seine. Although he sat on the right side of the Assembly, he had no involvement in the coup d'etat of December 1851 which brought his cousin, Napoleon III, to power; and, although the new Emperor made Louis-Lucien a Prince and a Senator, he played no part in politics during the Second Empire. After the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, he returned to London, where he lived at 6-8 Norfolk Terrace and wrote several books on the Basque language, as well as studying English dialects. (He erected a granite obelisk in the village of Paul, near Newlyn in Cornwall, to mark the burial place of Dolly Pentreath, claimed to be the last person who could speak Cornish). Although he died on a visit to Italy, his body was brought back to London for burial. A contemporary account states that: "His coffin was so designed that, having been placed in the sarcophagus, its sides and lid could be removed, and the Prince revealed in court dress, lying on a mattress of violet satin fringed with gold. His chest was aglitter with orders."

Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine