On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte, Clémentine Portier-Kaltenbach reveals in Historically yours seven little-known anecdotes about the first Emperor of the French, from his eating habits to his tobacco consumption, including his relationship to women .
You know the names of his great military campaigns and the history of his exiles, first on Elba Island and then on Saint Helena, but do you know who Napoleon Bonaparte really was?
On the occasion of the bicentenary of the death of the first Emperor of the French, who died on May 5, 1821, Clémentine Portier-Kaltenbach has listed for you seven anecdotes and little quirks relating to the soldier's intimacy in her daily column broadcast every day between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in Historically yours presented by Stéphane Bern and Matthieu Noël.
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He loved to fart
Napoleon did not smoke but he liked to fart… that is to say to breathe petun - old tobacco.
In 1808 alone, the Emperor consumed 42 kilograms of tobacco - then only 18 kilograms in 1812, having visibly made efforts to reduce its use.
He was obsessed with dental hygiene ...
The Emperor cleaned his teeth with a wooden toothpick, then brushed them with a toothbrush dipped in opiate - a paste made from opium, then in fine coral.
He would rinse his mouth with brandy mixed with fresh water, then scrape his mouth with a silver or vermeil scraper.
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... and did not live without cologne
Napoleon sprinkled himself with a formula concocted by the Italian perfumer Jean-Marie Farina, which he carried in a flat, long bottle, slipped into his boot.
According to an invoice found by the national archives, no less than 72 bottles were sprayed with it during the month of October 1808 alone!
Even during his exile in Saint Helena, at the end of his life, the ex-emperor deployed treasures of ingenuity to bring together lemon, bergamot and neroli and have an ersatz of his water made. Favorite Cologne.
He almost always cheated at cards
The Emperor was not a good player!
He almost always cheated at cards and only half hid.
One day when one of his opponents got annoyed in the boat that was taking them to the Egyptian countryside, the military commander reportedly replied: "I don't cheat, I just never leave anything to chance."
He was sickly jealous
This is the explanation put forward to explain that we have found less than ten letters written by Joséphine, his first wife, to Napoleon: the Emperor would have burned the others in a terrible crisis of jealousy.
Much later, during his exile in Saint Helena, in 1815, Napoleon became very close to Betsy Balcombe, a young girl residing on the island, with whom some lent him a romance ... Taking as proof his jealousy when he Saw her banter with English officers.
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He always wore the same pants
Little concerned by his clothes, Napoleon wore the same white Casimir pants every day….
But he changed them every morning and his staff took care of laundering them.
Within hours of leaving her room, her panties often got stained with ink, due to her habit of wiping her quill on them.
His hat was covered ... with beaver felt!
This is called the famous "French Castor Hat", made of black felt, from beaver fur, by a certain Poupard, official supplier of the Emperor's hats. Unlike the other soldiers, Napoleon I wore this head covering "in battle", that is to say the wings in line with the shoulders. He had different sizes, because he wadded the winter models!