Napoleon I of France

Napoleon I (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, later Napoléon Bonaparte) (15 August 1769–5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who had significant impact on modern European history. He was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as Premier Consul of the French Republic, Empereur des Français, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine.

== Napoléon Bonaparte in ''The Two Georges On July 14, 1789, Lieutenant Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte made a name for himself that lived on in either history or infamy. On that day, a Parisian crowd attempted to storm the Bastille Prison. Colonel Bonaparte prevented this by ordering troops under his command to open fire declaring "Ils ne passeront pas". Respectable society viewed Bonaparte as a great man who preserved peace and order although radical elements viewed it as a tragedy. One such was a young composer Ludwig van Beethoven who dedicated a symphony to "The Massacred Innocents".

Philippe Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoléon, was the French ambassador to the North American Union in the mid 1990s.