Roland Bonaparte

Roland Bonaparte
Born	(1858-05-19)19 May 1858 Paris, France
Died	14 April 1924(1924-04-14) (aged 65) Paris, France
Spouse	Marie Blanc
Names Roland Napoléon Bonaparte
House	Bonaparte
Father	Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte
Mother	Justine Eleanore Ruflin

Roland Napoléon Bonaparte (19 May 1858 – 14 April 1924), was a French prince and president of the Société de Géographie from 1910 until his death.

Biography

Bonaparte was born in Paris on 19 May 1858, the son of Prince Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte and Justine Eleanore Ruflin. He was a grandson of Lucien Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon I's brother.

Prince Roland was married in Paris on 18 November 1880, to Marie Blanc (1859–1882), the daughter of François Blanc. They had one daughter, Princess Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962).

In 1886, Bonaparte was part of a scientific expedition that photographed and anatomically measured the Sami inhabitants of Northern Norway.

Bonaparte in center measuring a Sami woman's head

Bonaparte was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1921-1923.

On the death of his cousin Prince Napoléon Charles Bonaparte in 1899, he succeeded him as the 6th Prince of Canino and Musignano, but he never assumed the title. With Prince Roland's death in Paris on 14 April 1924, the senior line of the House of Bonaparte descending from Lucien Bonaparte became extinct in the male line.

Legacy

Bonaparte Point in Antarctica was named after him by Jean-Baptiste Charcot. There is also a small lake on the mountains above the Coast Sámi/Norwegian village Kvalsund which is called Bonapartesjøen - Lake Bonaparte - after his abovementioned visit to the region.

Images

• 
  Bonaparte dressed in gákti, traditional Sámi clothes
• 
  Mother: Justine Elénore Bonaparte
• 
  Father: Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte
• 
  1st wife: Marie-Félix Blanc

External links

• Presidents of the Société de Géographie