Talk:Alexandre Colonna-Walewski

The Walewski family didn't have the title of count. Alexander the legal son of chambellan Anastazy Walewski and his wife Maria Łączyńska, got the title's of count as "Count Colonna-Walewski". So it would be "count Colonna-Walewski". Tomasz Lenczewski, The titled family in Poland, Warszaw, vol. 1, 1997, page 210; (my information based also of the acts of the Senat Deputy of the Kingdom of Poland) _____________________________________________________________

Alexander received the title of Comte de l'Empire from his father, Napoleon I. In 1866 he was created Duke by his cousin Napoleon III.

His second wife's maiden name was Ricci, but her mother was a born Princess Poniatowski, a cousin of the famous Marshal of France. Thus says at least Nouvelle Biographie from 1866. --Alexvonf 21:09, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

.Walewski was illegitimate and as such he did not belong to the Polish nobility. He was a French noble.

--Alexvonf 11:10, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

-The link to the genealogy does not function.--Alexvonf 10:59, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Cleanup

This article requires full names, even where one seems to be enough to identify other ppl. Also, many ambiguous statements need to be clarified. (Whose authority was challenged? Which coup was announced? etc.) The genealogical chart at the end needs some work, too. The "Charles" that was murdered needs to be more clearly identified, (put name and data together). This article has real promise -- fill in the gaps and it could probably be a Good Article. Mdotley 14:59, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

The drawing is a fake

The drawing on this page is a fake! The artist have superimposed the face of Alexandre's father on his body. The ”yaw” part of the face is minimized. This kind of beautification was common in his father's time. By the time Alexandre reached adaulthood it had become out of fachsion. Apparantly, the artist was not aware of this. Alexandre lived late enought to be photographed. Do anyone have a link to photo of him?
How I know the real propotions of his father's face? There is at least four contemporary portraits where the ”yaws” is not minimized. The propotions of the face are the same on all four. So we can presuppose that they are real.

22 october 2006. Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Walewski looked a great deal like his father in every picture of him I've seen. What is a "yaw"? john k 07:05, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

When I wrote “the ‘yaw’ part of the face” I meant the part below the nose. In the real world sons never bears such a close resemblance to their fathers. (Cloning may change that in the future.) The drawing shows a person looking very different from the photo shown further down. The artist must have superimposed the face of Napoléon I on a fictional body! I have seen a better photo of Alexandre so I know that he bore little resemblance to his father. His hair was strait like Napoléon's but seem to have had the same colour as his mother's: light brown without any streak of yellow. In contrast with his half-brother Napoleon Franz he did not inherit his father's shape of face. Most likely Alexandre had the same shape of face as his mother. His eyes where small just like Napoléon's. If it is true that Maria Walewska was blue-eyed Alexandre could have had blue or blue-grey eyes. His nose had the same shape as his father's but was longer. His lips where thicker than his father's and his chin as different as it could be. He did not have any noticeable birthmark on his right cheek ether. I think the “portrait” should be replaced by the photo further down. Unless someone can put up a more detailed photo, that is.

2008-06-25 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden.

I wrote my previous inlay as if you had a good mental image of Napoléon I's physical appearance but not Alexandre's. Few people know how Napoléon looked. He was small and thin with small hands and feet. Most contemporary portraits show him with straight, black hair and a light beige skin. This was most likely his skin colour without suntan. The best contemporary portrait I know about is this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bree_-_Napoleon_Bonaparte%2C_premier_Consul.png

If it had not been for the hair colour it would had resembled him exactly. Since he was portrayed in profile it does not show the large cleft in his chin. Furthermore, the scan is not detailed enough to show his eye colour which was blue-grey. This eye colour is the result of a combination of two different recessive genes. Theoretically, his children could have had any eye colour - except for greenish brown - dependant on what genes for eye colour their mothers had. If it is true that Maria Walewska had blue eyes this would have given their child an equal chance of having blue or blue-grey eyes. I really don't know.

If you have a good mental image of how Alexandre looked and yet thought he looked “a great deal like his father” you are probably influenced by Ian Holm. He is the present-day person bearing the closest resemblance to Napoléon. Yet it is easy to tell them apart if you have a good mental image of the physical appearance of at least one of them. The features of Alexandre's face where virtually identical to Ian's except the colour of the eyebrows and possibly the eye colour. But the exact distances between the features of his face where different. Ian has wavy hair which was black when he was younger. (He had his hair artificially straightened when he acted Napoléon.) As I previously mentioned Alexandre had light brown, straight hair. Ian is small and thin just like Napoléon was. Alexandre was shrubby and he does not seem to have been short compared to the average height of his time. I have a keen sense of the proportions of things so I know what I am talking about.

2009-03-29 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden.

A good photo of Aleksander can now be found here. Anyone who knows his eye colour?

2010-12-29 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.114.153.12 (talk) 16:22, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

Charles Walewski

The book "Walewski - fils de Napoleon", tells the story about Alexandre´s son, count Charles Walewski, a bit different as it is said in the article: He was born on the 4th July, 1848, and became minister of foreign affairs, he was named to be the secretary of the ambassady, in Paris before the death of his father. In 1870 he was at working for the service of the foreign legion, and was very much loved by his people (...) In 1885 he did indeed marry: He married the daughter of the general Douay, and in 1866 he went to China come attaché of military affairs. He died in WWI, so says the book, but in 1914, not 1916. What do other sources say? My book is in french and from 1943, quite old. The authour is Philippe Poirson.

Descendants

Is there any descendants of Aleksander today? If so how many generation are there between they and him? I was made curious by the thye posibility of there being closer living relatives to Napoléon I Bonaparte than the four sibllings I know about.

2010-12-29 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden.