Napoleon’s Wife Joséphine Did Him Dirty
The famous French general, Napoleon Bonaparte, was cuckolded and ghosted by his first wife, Joséphine, but his love for her never died.
Joséphine de Beauharnais went by Rose before she met Napoleon. Her first husband was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. She had two children with her deceased husband. Napoleon, who was six years younger, could not resist her.
In one letter to Joséphine, highlighted by Kate Williams in Ambition and Desire, Napoleon wrote, “I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses.”
She had affairs with a few other French political elite before meeting Napoleon, but he did not waste any time marrying her once she became his mistress. Less than a year after meeting her, Napoleon proposed, and the wedding was set for two months later.
The rush was for two reasons. The 26-year-old Napoleon had fallen madly in love, and he was to leave Paris two days later. Napoleon, who became a general at age 24, was given the French Army command in Italy to battle against the Austrians.
Napoleon regretted that he had such high ambitions and could not be with the one he loved.
