Bonaparte was born in
Rome, Italy. He joined the insurrectionary bands in
Romagna (1830–1831); later he moved to the United States, where he went to join his uncle Joseph, and in
Colombia with
Francisco de Paula Santander (1832). Returning to Rome he was taken prisoner by order of
Pope Gregory XVI (1835–1836). He finally took refuge in the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. , the
Lesse river and the Mohimont Farm. At the
revolution of 1848 he returned to France and was elected deputy for
Corsica to the
Constituent Assembly. He declared himself an out-and-out
republican and even voted with the
socialists. He pronounced himself in favour of the national workshops and against the
loi Falloux. His attitude contributed greatly to give popular confidence to his cousin Louis Napoleon (
Napoleon III of France), of whose coup d'état on 2 December 1851 he disapproved; but he was soon reconciled to the emperor, and accepted the title of prince. The republicans at once abandoned him. From that time on he led a debauched life, and lost all political importance.
Background to shooting In December 1869, a dispute broke out between two Corsican newspapers, the leftist
La Revanche and the loyalist ''L'Avenir de la Corse
, edited by Jean de la Rocca (1832 – 1883). The invective of La Revanche'' concentrated on
Napoleon I. On 30 December, ''L'Avenir
published a letter sent to its editor by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon I, and cousin of the then-ruling Emperor Napoleon III. Prince Bonaparte castigated the staff of La Revanche
as beggars and traitors. Paschal Grousset, the editor of both La Revanche
and La Marseillaise'', a Parisian radical socialist newspaper, took offence and demanded satisfaction. On 9 January 1870, Prince Bonaparte wrote a letter to
Henri Rochefort, the founder of
La Marseillaise, claiming to uphold the good name of his family:
Shooting On the following day, Grousset sent
Victor Noir and
Ulric de Fonvielle as his seconds to fix the terms of a
duel with Pierre Bonaparte. Contrary to custom, they presented themselves to Bonaparte instead of contacting his seconds. Each of them carried a
revolver in his pocket. Noir and de Fonvieille presented Bonaparte with a letter signed by Grousset. But the prince declined the challenge, asserting his willingness to fight Rochefort, but not his "menials" (
ses manœuvres). In response, Noir asserted his solidarity with his friends. According to Fonvieille, Bonaparte then slapped his face and shot Noir dead. According to Bonaparte, it was Noir who took umbrage at the epithet and struck him first, whereupon he drew his revolver and fired at his aggressor. That was the version eventually accepted by the court. In the trial of Bonaparte for homicide on 21 May 1871
Théodore Grandperret served as Attorney General at the High Court convened in
Tours. His evident bias towards the Bonaparte family caused the lawyers of the Noir family to be called the "defense lawyers". ==Family==