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 BONAPARTE 25 tizia Ramolino, whose family belonged to the Genoese faction, and were adverse to the mar- riage, which did not take place ti!117G7. His wife accompanied him during his campaign, and dissuaded him from following Paoli in his flight to England. He afterward entered into friendly relations with Count Marbceuf, the Frencli governor of the island, and became assessor of the city and province of Ajaccio, deputy of the Corsican nobles to the court of France (1777-'9), and in 1781 one of the 12 members of the council of the Corsican nobil- ity. Through tho munificence of the govern- ment his son Napoleon was admitted to the military school of Brienne, Louis to the semi- nary at Autun, and his daughter filisa to the royal institution of St. Cyr. Afflicted with an ulcer in the stomach, he sought medical advice in Montpellier, and died in that city in the presence of his son Joseph and of his wife's brother, afterward Cardinal Fesch. He was a fine-looking, intelligent, amiable, and cour- ageous gentleman. His portrait is in the Ver- sailles museum, and his marble bust by Elias Robert was executed in 1855. His wife bore him 13 children, of whom five sons, Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, Louis, and Jerome, and three daughters, Elisa, Pauline, and Caroline, survived him. II. Maria Lcli/ia (called by the French Madame L^ETITIA), wife of the preced- ing, born in Ajaccio, Aug. 24, 1750, died in Rome, Feb. 2, 1836. She was of an austere and classical style of beauty and commanding appearance, and her courageous spirit revealed itself after her marriage, when she went through the ordeal of camp life, in company with her husband, shortly before giving birth to her son Napoleon. She was overtaken with the first pains of labor while at church, and had barely time to reach her home. After the death of her husband she devoted herself to the educa- tion of her children; and in 1793, when Cor- sica fell into the hands of the English, she es- caped with her three daughters and Lucien, in the midst of many perils, from Ajaccio to Mar- seilles, where she lived in penury upon the pit- tance which the government allowed to Cor- sican refugees. Her position was greatly im- proved after Napoleon's promotion to the chief command of the French army in Italy, and on the establishment of the consular government she removed to Paris. Her mode of existence, however, continued to be frugal and unpre- tentious, even after her son's accession to the throne, when she received the title of Madame Mere. Napoleon found fault with her predi- lection for Lucien, and afterward with her in- veterate dislike of Maria Louisa, and always with her repugnance to display. But though she occasionally suffered from his want of filial affection, he insisted upon tho utmost reverence being shown to her. Her education and dis- position were not suitable for a prominent po- sition in the brilliant society of Paris ; and though a patrician by birth, of great natural dignity of manners, and possessed of consider- able tact and judgment, her culture was de- ficient and her tastes were simple, and her habitual circle included only Madame Saveria, the faithful teacher of several of her children, and a few other intimate friends. She saved large sums of money, which afterward enabled her to assist her children in distress ; and though economical almost to parsimony, she was lavish in dispensing charities, at the head of which she was placed officially. After the downfall of Na- poleon, she went with several of her children to Blois, and then to Rome. She visited her son at Elba, and sternly rebuked Caroline's defection, admonishing her rather to trample upon the corpse of her husband Murat than to desert her brother and benefactor. In April, 1815, she returned to Paris ; and after the battle of Wa- terloo she took up her abode in Rome. De- nounced in 1820 as a Bonapartist agitator by M. do Blacas, the French ambassador in Rome, she indignantly repelled the accusation, and declared with an unusual vehemence, the effect of which was enhanced by her general impas- sibility, that if in reality she could dispose of millions, she would not spend them in such attempts, but would devote her means exclu- sively to effect the release of her son from St. Helena. In 1830 she broke her thigh, and was ever afterward confined to her room. She left to her children a fortune represented by a revenue of 80,000 francs, and about 500,000 francs worth of jewelry. In the museum of Versailles are two portraits of her, painted by Gerard. In her celebrated statue by Canova she is represented in the attitude of Agrippina in the capitol. HI. Marie Anne Klisi Bacrwclii, daughter of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, Jan. 3, 1777, died, according to most accounts, at the villa Vicentina, near Trieste, Aug. 7, 1820. She left St. Cyr after the suppression of that educational establishment at the end of 1792, and married at Marseilles in May, 1797, Felice Pasquale Bacciochi, a poor Corsican officer of noble lineage. In 1798 she removed to Paris, where her house became a resort of Chateau- briand, La Harpe, and other eminent persons, including Fontanes, her special favorite. Na- poleon made her in 1805 princess of Piombino and Lucca, and in 1808 grand duchess of Tus- cany. She was called the Semiramis of Lucca on account of her administrative talents. She put down brigandage and promoted the pros- perity of her small dominions. She lived in great state at Florence, Pisa, and other places till 1814, when she retired to Bologna. Early in 1815 she went to Austria, where after Mu- rat's death she was joined by his widow, her sis- ter Caroline, spending her last years under the title of countess of Oornpignano, near Trieste, in which city she was buried. Her husband, though crowned with her at Lucca, held a sub- ordinate position during her life. They had two sons. (See BAOCIOCHI.) IV. Marie Pan- line, sister of the preceding, born in Ajaccio, Oct. 20, 1780, died in Florence, June 9, 1825. She had no advantages of education, but