Joséphine de Beauharnais

Born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie on 23 June 1763, she married Alexandre de Beauharnais, who was guillotined during the Reign of Terror; she was imprisoned in the Carmes prison and released five days after his execution. Her second marriage, to Napoleon, made her Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 and Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805. Napoleon annulled the marriage on 10 January 1810 because she bore him no children, then married Marie Louise of Austria. Through her children by Beauharnais, she became grandmother to Emperor Napoleon III of France and Empress Amélie of Brazil; her descendants include members of the current royal families of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg. At the Château de Malmaison she worked closely with sculptors, painters, and decorators to establish the Consular and Empire style, became a leading collector of sculpture and painting, and supervised a rose garden that made the estate famous.