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Joséphine de Tascher de la Pagerie
(1763–1814)

Other names: Marie-Josèphe-Rose

Biographical

Duchess of Navarre 1810

Joséphine was the daughter of a financially struggling French aristocrat stationed in Martinique, where she spent the first part of her life. Her marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais, a wealthy young officer, took her to Paris, but the union was marked by growing distance and disappointment. Though she bore him two children, Alexandre viewed her colonial background as a social liability and refused to introduce her to court life. Eventually, she secured a legal separation and remained in Paris, gradually acquainting herself with fashionable society before returning briefly to Martinique. The eruption of a slave uprising forced her swift return to France, which by then was in the grip of revolutionary upheaval. Her husband, who had aligned himself with the Revolutionary army, fell victim to political purges and was executed, while Joséphine herself narrowly avoided the same fate, imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. Her release followed the fall of Robespierre, and she soon re-established herself as a prominent figure within the social circles of the Directory, her charm and adaptability ensuring her place in post-revolutionary Paris. It was within the upper echelons of Parisian society that she attracted the attention of of Napoleon Bonaparte, then a rising military figure. Enchanted by her elegance and poise, he pursued her with great intensity, and she agreed to marry him shortly before his campaign in Italy. Though he wrote her impassioned letters, Joséphine remained somewhat detached and even engaged in a flirtation during his absence in Egypt, straining their relationship. Despite this, he forgave her under the influence of her children and took on the burden of her considerable debts. During the Consulate, she avoided further scandal and used her position to support Napoleon’s political ascent. Upon his assumption of imperial power, she persuaded him to sanctify their civil marriage with a religious ceremony, though he did so with reluctance. While she was crowned Empress in a ceremony of grandeur, her failure to provide an heir and her continued extravagance gradually eroded her security. Napoleon, seeking dynastic continuity, arranged to have the marriage annulled through a minor legal irregularity, avoiding open conflict with Church or diplomacy. Joséphine withdrew to her estate at Malmaison, where she maintained a luxurious lifestyle with Napoleon’s support. After his abdication, she briefly came under the protection of Alexander I of Russia but died soon thereafter, having retained her grace, influence, and public admiration to the last.

Place of birth: Trois Ilets, Martinique
Place of first marriage: Noisy-le-Grand
Place of second marriage: Paris
Place of death: Malmaison

Daughter of Joseph Tascher de La Pagerie and Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois, she was married firstly in 1779 to Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais, with issue, and secondly in in 1796 (annulled 1810) to Napoleon Bonaparte, with no issue.