Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, prince di Canino e di Musignano

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Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, prince di Canino e di Musignano

French scientist

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Last Updated: May 20, 2025 • Article History

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Born:: May 24, 1803, Paris

Died:: July 29, 1857, Paris (aged 54)

Notable Works:: “American Ornithology”

Subjects Of Study:: bird; North America

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Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, prince di Canino e di Musignano (born May 24, 1803, Paris—died July 29, 1857, Paris) was a scientist and the eldest son of Napoleon I’s second surviving brother Lucien. His publication of American Ornithology, 4 vol. (1825–33), established his scientific reputation. In 1848–49, when he took part in the political agitation for Italian independence against the Austrians, his scientific career experienced a brief hiatus, and he was forced to leave Italy in July 1849. He went to Holland and then to France. His principal works are a general zoological conspectus, Conspectus systematis ornithologiae, mastozoologiae, reptologiae et amphibologiae, ichthyologiae (1850); a work on hummingbirds, Tableau des oiseaux-mouches (1854); and one on extinct birds, Ornithologie fossile (1858).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Bonaparte Family

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François Gérard: Napoleon in His Imperial Robes

Bonaparte Family

French history

Also known as: Buonaparte family

Written by Patrick Riley, Michael Ray•All

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Italian:: Buonaparte

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Bonaparte Family, a family made famous by Napoleon I, emperor of the French (1804–1814/15). The French form Bonaparte was not commonly used, even by Napoleon, until after the spring of 1796. The original name was Buonaparte, which was borne in the early Middle Ages by several distinct families in Italy. One of these, which settled at Florence before the year 1100, was divided in the 13th century into the two branches of San Miniato and Sarzana. A member of this latter, Francesco Buonaparte, emigrated in the middle of the 16th century to Corsica, where his descendants continued to occupy themselves with the affairs of law and the magistracy.

Napoleon’s Corsican parents were Carlo Maria and Maria Letizia Buonaparte. Joseph, their third child and the first to survive, was born in 1768, Napoleon in 1769, and nine other children, six of whom survived, in subsequent years: Lucien (1775); Élisa (1777); Louis (1778); Pauline (1780); Caroline (1782); and Jérôme (1784). Louis’s son, Charles-Louis, became emperor of the French as Napoleon III (1852–70). The Bonaparte name survived in descendants of Lucien, Louis, and Jérôme into the 21st century.

Patrick Riley Michael Ray