Eugène de Beauharnais, le fils adoptif méconnu de Napoléon, avec Michel Kerautret

We misunderstand or underestimate the role and place of a figure who evolved in the shadow of Napoleon Bonaparte: Eugène de Beauharnais. "In the midst of all these strange characters that the revolution had brought forth, and in whom the spirit of adventure, the most unlimited ambition, the ignorance of all principles were too often found united with great talents to a rare energy and the most heroic courage, Eugène stood out for his cold and calm intelligence, for an equal and chivalrous bravery, perhaps superior in its principle to the brilliant and thoughtless impetuosity of some of his comrades in arms, for the taste for the rule, the feeling of duty finally by a constant disposition to be content with the situation that he occupied without aspiring to new aggrandizements." (Louis de Viel Castel in 1861). Nothing predestined Eugène de Beauharnais, born at the end of the Ancien Régime, to become the adopted son of an emperor. It took a revolution, the death of his father, his mother's remarriage, and Napoleon's affection. There is something Balzacian in his life story, and yet the quote runs counter to the notion of opportunism that the emperor's adopted son might have cultivated. Who was he really? Was his role with Napoleon anything other than that of a loyal friend? What policy did he implement as Viceroy of Italy? What attitude did he choose after his mother's divorce? Our guest: The author Michel Kerautret is a historian specializing in the Napoleonic period. He also headed the Reports Department of the National Assembly. He has just published a biography of Eugène de Beauharnais (Tallandier, €23.90, 400 pages).