Carlo Buonaparte

Carlo Maria Buonaparte was born in Corsica on 27 March 1746, into a minor noble family on an island that had not yet decided its fate. He began as a supporter of Corsican independence, serving briefly as an aide to Pasquale Paoli and fighting against Genoa, then resisting when France invaded. After France annexed Corsica, he made the practical pivot: he aligned with the new regime and by 1777 had secured a post as the island's representative at the court of Louis XVI. He died on 24 February 1785, a provincial attorney with eight children and debts. Twenty years later his second surviving son b…