TEN MYTHS ABOUT NAPOLEON

The term "Napoleon complex" has even emerged, denoting the passion of short-statured individuals for self-assertion. But in reality, the commander was above the average height for a Frenchman of that time, in fact, by three centimeters— with his height of 168 centimeters, he certainly didn’t look like a shorty. There were at least three reasons why this myth arose. Firstly, the nickname "Little Corporal" given to young Napoleon by his comrades played a role. However, it referred not to his height but to his age— the commander rose through ranks and titles very early. Secondly, there was confusion in metric conversions: the future emperor's height was indicated in French inches in French sources, which are longer than the familiar English inches (2.70 versus 2.54 cm). Moreover, as a commander, Napoleon often made public appearances surrounded by guards; the tallest men were usually selected for this role—against their backdrop, he likely appeared compact.

Yes, Napoleon's preserved letters and writings often abound with mistakes that would not befit an honorable French primary school student. But it is worth remembering that the future emperor grew up in Corsica, and his native language was a Corsican variant of Italian— he spoke and wrote in French as a foreign language (quite decently under the given circumstances).

Tales of how Napoleon, while in Africa, ordered cannons to shoot off the nose of the Cairo Sphinx to appease his sense of pride undoubtedly pleased the part of the audience that considered the Corsican a cunning scoundrel and a global mischief-maker. In reality, the Sphinx lost its nose earlier— as evidenced by the diaries of travelers describing its noselessness long before the French Revolution. And in the drawings of the Danish traveler Norden, we can see a noseless sphinx sketched in 1737. When and under what circumstances the nose was lost is unknown. Natural causes or the religious zeal of Islamic rulers who periodically sought to eradicate pagan idols could all be equally responsible. But Napoleon undoubtedly had nothing to do with it.

In Tolstoy's "War and Peace," Napoleon is extensively depicted, expounding that "the trembling of my left calf is a great sign." The Russian writer took historical documents seriously, and undoubtedly, this was not fabricated—the emperor’s nervous tics and epilepsy are mentioned in many sources. However, none of these sources explains how a person with epilepsy could wind up in military service. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that all sources somehow rely on a single testimony—excerpts from Talleyrand's memoirsiCharles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838), French politician, diplomat, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, renowned for his love of intrigues., he describes Napoleon actually having an epileptic seizure —with foam, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. It appears that it was Talleyrand, who hated the emperor, who spread this gossip, which, incidentally, is decisively refuted by people who knew Bonaparte very well, such as Countess de Remusat, a friend of Napoleon's wife, Josephine Bogarne. In her memoirs, she writes that all rumors about the emperor's seizures are his enemies' foolish and nasty inventions. (Let's not forget that epilepsy then evoked not so much sympathy as fear and disgust—hence, public figures were often accused of "convulsiveness.")

The color "Napoleonic Blue" is named after the uniforms of some French army troops during the Napoleonic era. We do not know whether the emperor liked this color or not. Still, we do know that the name "Napoleonic Blue" appeared after the French Revolution of 1848 when Napoleon's nephew was elected president. His supporters began to wear scarves, ties, and kerchiefs in the color of Bonaparte's army uniforms.

The RGB code for Napoleonic Blue: RGB(44,65,112)

The myth goes like this: after the victorious battle with the Austrians at Italian Marengo, it turned out that the supply wagons lagged behind and could not quickly reach Napoleon's headquarters. Napoleon's chef, François-Claude-Guigné Dugan, searched the entire town and had to prepare lunch from whatever he could find. He found several chickens, which was catastrophic because Napoleon hated chicken. So the chef cooked the chickens, removing the skin and bones and adding tomatoes, eggs, crayfish, garlic, and a bunch of spices, then doused it all with brandy—in short, he threw anything into the pot just to drown out the smell of chicken. Only after the emperor had dined with appetite did the chef confess that it was chicken—however, the commander liked the dish so much that he requested that "Chicken Marengo" be served regularly. This myth can be found in many culinary reference books of the late 19th century, but only there. Contemporary accounts and memoirists write so little about Napoleon's food preferences that one might conclude that the eternal soldier was anything but pretentious when it came to what he ate.

In the 19th century, he was often depicted this way because artists painted his portraits from black-and-white engravings, and remembering that the emperor was Corsican, they generously endowed him with features of Italian appearance. But, according to the recollections of Napoleon's contemporaries, he was blond and had light blue eyes. For example, Denis DavydoviDenis Davydov (1784-1839), Russian military officer and poet, one of the commanders of partisan movements during the Russian-French War of 1812. describes him as follows: "His hair was not black but dark brown, eyebrows and eyelashes closer to black than to the color of head hair, and his eyes were blue" (D. Davydov "Tilsit in 1807").

Famous phrases from "Napoleon's Letters to Josephine" like "Don't bath, I'm coming" and "Don't take a bath, in three days I'll be with you" are pure legend, appearing around 1980—since then, this myth regularly appears in the press and sometimes even seeps into popular historical works. Several letters from Napoleon to his wife, Josephine Bogarne, have survived; they are passionate love letters, but there is basically no corporal intimacy, just spiritual longing. And there is not a word about bathing to be found.

Legend has it that, in response to Madame de Staël's questioniBaroness Anne-Louise de Staël (1766-1817), French writer.: "Whom do you consider the foremost woman in the world, among the living and the dead?" Napoleon replied, "The one who has given birth to the most children." This narrative emerged during the lifetimes of both figures, and its degree of truthfulness is now impossible to ascertain. However, it is historically confirmed and undisputed that Napoleon could not stand Madame de Staël. She was his political opponent, belonged to Talleyrand's circle, and published works that infuriated Napoleon—eventually, at his order, the writer was expelled from Paris, and the print run of her latest book was destroyed. We can assume that if such a conversation did take place, it was a barb directed at the writer who became famous for many talents other than the talent of being a faithful wife and a good mother. In principle, Napoleon did not harbor an aversion to intelligent and active secular women. Most of his romances were, in fact, with ladies like Maria Walewska, a prominent socialite and queen of Polish high society.

When Napoleon's body was exhumed in the 1960s, it was found that his hair contained a significant amount of arsenic, far exceeding the permissible norm. Thus, the myth of intentional or accidental poisoning through wallpaper painted with arsenic-containing paint emerged. The news spread among all media sources and began to be perceived as an absolute truth. However, half a century later, it can be confidently stated that there was nothing unusual about the emperor's hair for that era. Arsenic was commonly used in the production of various items, from paints to soap, and a considerable number of bodies from that time, when examined, were also found to have traces of contact with this poisonous substance. A re-examination of the emperor's remains by medical experts in 2007 confirmed the diagnosis made by the doctors of that time: stomach cancer, a hereditary disease in their family—Napoleon's father also died from the same illness.