House Bonaparte Father Joseph Bonaparte | Mother Julie Clary Name Zenaide Bonaparte | |
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Born 8 July 1801
Paris, France ( 1801-07-08 ) Died 8 August 1854(1854-08-08) (aged 53)
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Burial Santa Maria in Via Lata Spouse Charles Lucien Bonaparte | ||
Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte, Princess of Canino and Musignano (8 July 1801 – 8 August 1854) was the elder daughter of Joseph Bonaparte and Julie Clary, and the wife of Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who was also her cousin. She joined her father in Bordentown, New Jersey in exile for several years.
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On 29 June 1822, in Brussels, she married her cousin, her uncle Lucien's son, Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Her father Joseph had suggested the marriage to his wife when Zénaïde was only five; the idea was to carry on the Napoleonic succession (a return to power was always anticipated) by marrying his two daughters to sons of two of his brothers. The wedding was met with surprisingly little fanfare, perhaps because Zénaïde's mother was outraged at the excessive sum of the dowry (730,000 francs, which was unreasonable considering that Lucien's villa in Rome had cost only 150,000), which had strained her resources.
Charles was an ornithologist (who named the Zenaida doves after her). They had twelve children, listed below.