May 29, 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Josephine’s life did not begin when she married the famous Corsican so this week, to honor her, we are looking at the time before she became a Bonaparte. Join Christine as she explores the years when Josephine answered to a different name, had a husband named Alexandre, and almost became a victim of the Reign of Terror.
Podcaster: Christine
Note: Alexandre de Beauharnais was executed in 1794, not 1784 as it sounds like in this recording. Apologies!
Further Reading Evangeline Bruce. Napoleon and Josephine: An Improbable Marriage. Scribner: New York, 1995. André Castelot. Josephine. Trans Denise Folliot. Harper & Row: New York, 1967. Ernest John Knapton. Empress Josephine. Harvard University Press: Massachusetts, 1963. Related Content After Napoleon: Josephine Divorced This episode is part of our Revolutionary France Series Music by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) 
Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais' children, Eugène (left) and Hortense (right)
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