Collaboration between the Fondation Napoléon and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca: Élisa Bonaparte’s letters to go online at Napoleonica les archives

On 17 December 2024, a partnership was signed by the President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Marcello Bertocchini, and the President of the Fondation Napoléon, Victor-André Masséna, Prince d’Essling, concerning the collaboration in making available online on the website Napoleonica les archives of a corpus of 233 letters from Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, now an integral part of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Collection.

Dating from August 1807 to February 1813, these letters detail not only Elisa’s activities as Grand Duchess of Tuscany but also her day-to-day affairs. The letters are all from Elisa herself, addressed to the Secretary of State of the Imperial Family, Count Michel Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély, an important figure in the Emperor’s entourage. In her letters (inter alia), she told him about her travels, asked him questions about imperial etiquette, paid attention to the Count’s family and kept him informed of the painful consequences of her pregnancy.

The press presentation featured speeches by Marcello Bertocchini, President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Victor-André Masséna, Prince of Essling, President of the Fondation Napoléon, Peter Hicks, Head of International Affairs at the Fondation Napoléon, and Roberta Martinelli, President of the association ‘Napoléon et Elisa : de Paris à la Toscane’; also present were Simonetta Giurlani Pardini, Michèle Merger and Silvio Ghiselli, from the same association.

published : 16 January 2025