A collaboration between the Fondation Napoléon and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca: project to digitise Élisa Bonaparte’s letters for the Napoleonica archives website
On Wednesday 23 August, 2023 in Lucca, Italy, Peter Hicks, international affairs manager at the Fondation Napoléon, and Roberta Martinelli, president of the association “Napoleon and Elisa: from Paris to Tuscany”, met Franco Mungai, manager at the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, to prepare the digitisation of a collection of 233 letters by Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, from the Fondazione Collection Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, to be made available on the website Napoleonica the archives.
In Lucca, earlier this year, the general public were able to discover some of these letters during an exhibition (4 April to 21 May 2023) entitled “Le lettere di Elisa: così governava la Principessa di Lucca” [The letters of Elisa Bonaparte: a working princess], curated by Roberta Martinelli, in the fresco room on the ground floor of the San Micheletto complex, headquarters of the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation.
Elisa’s letters, written herself, dated August 1807 – February 1813, were addressed to the Secretary of State of the Imperial Family, Count Michel Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély (a key figure in the Emperor’s household), and describe, not only Elisa’s action as Grand Duchess of Tuscany, but also her everyday affairs. In her letters (inter alia) she informs him about her daily happenings, asks him questions about imperial etiquette, asks after the count’s family and also shares with him her experience during her complicated pregnancy.
The next step in this collaboration between our two foundations will be the signing of a partnership agreement followed by the delivery of transcriptions (prepared by Bernard Chevallier) and photographs of the letters.
First published in French on 13 September 2023
