Should we commemorate Napoleon?

Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830).

Portrait of Napoleon I (1769-1821), in the uniform of a colonel of the chasseurs de la Garde, 1809, commissioned by the City for the Hôtel de Ville.

© Stéphane Piera / Carnavalet Museum / Roger-Viollet

By: Guillaume Naudin Follow

2 min

It was two hundred years ago, in 1821, Napoleon would die on Saint Helena, almost alone, at the hands of the British crown.

The emperor left a deep and apparently indelible mark in the history of France.

Whether admired or hated, in France and abroad, he is the subject of countless publications and controversies.

Military genius, builder of the State of his greatness and modern law for some, he was also for others a bloodthirsty dictator who set Europe on fire and blood, bleeding a generation in the process, burying the ideals of revolution and the First Republic while reestablishing slavery.

Should we commemorate Napoleon?

This is the question of the day.

Publicity

To discuss it

Françoise Vergès

, historian, political scientist, former president of the Committee for the memory of slavery.

Feminist and anti-racist activist and president of the collective "Décoloniser les arts".

Author of the books "Abolir l'sclavage, une utopia colonial", published by Albin Michel and "A feminist theory of violence", published by La Fabrique

David Chanteranne

, historian, specialist on Napoleon, author of numerous books on the Emperor, among others, "The twelve deaths of Napoleon", editions Passés Composés, editor-in-chief of the review "Napoléon Ier, Revue du Souvenir napoléonien" and curator of Napoleon museum of Brienne-le-Château

Studio

Xavier Mauduit, 

historian, producer of the program "the Course of History" on France Culture, author of many books, among others, " 

The Man Who Wanted Everything.

Napoleon, splendor and propaganda ”

 editions Autrement,“ The Ministry of splendor, the House of Emperor Napoleon III ”editions Fayard

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  • History