Charles Lucien Bonaparte

Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French biologist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte.

Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Prince of Canino and Musignano
Born(1803-05-24)24 May 1803
Paris, France
Died29 July 1857(1857-07-29) (aged 54)
Paris, France
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1822; died 1854)​
Issue
HouseBonaparte
FatherLucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano
MotherAlexandrine de Bleschamp
OccupationScientist

Life and career

Bonaparte was the son of Lucien Bonaparte and Alexandrine de Bleschamp. Lucien was the youngest brother of Napoleon I, making Charles the emperor’s nephew. Born in Paris,[1] he was raised in Italy. On 29 June 1822, he married his cousin, Zénaïde, in Brussels. Soon after the marriage, the couple left for Philadelphia in the United States to live with Zénaïde's father, Joseph Bonaparte (who was also the paternal uncle of Charles).[2] Before leaving Italy, Carlo had already discovered a warbler new to science, the moustached warbler, and on the voyage he collected specimens of a new storm-petrel. On arrival in the United States, he presented a paper on this new bird, which was later named after Alexander Wilson.

Bonaparte then set about studying the ornithology of the United States[2] and updating Wilson's Ornithology or History of the Birds of the United States. The revised edition was published between 1825 and 1833. His other publications included "Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology" (in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy) and "Synopsis of the Birds of the United States" (in the Annals of the Lyceum of New York).[3] In 1824, Bonaparte tried to get the then unknown John James Audubon accepted by the Academy of Natural Sciences, but this was opposed by the ornithologist George Ord who disliked Audubon's dramatic bird poses and considered him to be a "a back-country upstart who romanticized his subject matter," according to the Audubon Galleries.[4]

At the end of 1826, Bonaparte and his family returned to Europe. He visited Germany, where he met Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar, and England, where he met John Edward Gray at the British Museum, and renewed his acquaintance with Audubon. In 1828, the family settled in Rome. In Italy, he was the originator of several scientific congresses, and lectured and wrote extensively on American and European ornithology and other branches of natural history.[2] Between 1832 and 1841, Bonaparte published his work on the animals of Italy, Iconografia della Fauna Italica. He had also published Specchio Comparativo delle Ornithologie di Roma e di Filadelfia (Pisa, 1827), presenting a comparison between birds of the latitude of Philadelphia and Italian species.[2] He created the genus Zenaida, after his wife, for the mourning dove and its relatives. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1845.[5]

In 1840, he became Prince of Canino and Musignano after his father's death and became involved in politics, particularly the anti-Austrian party which he joined in 1848.[6] He did not, however, lose interest in his favourite studies for he organized and presided over several scientific congresses in Italy.

In 1849, he was elected to the Roman Assembly and participated in the creation of the Roman Republic. According to Jasper Ridley, when the Assembly convened for the first time: "When the name of Carlo Bonaparte, who was a member for Viterbo, was called, he replied to the roll-call by calling out Long live the Republic!" (Viva la Repubblica!).[7] He participated in the defense of Rome against the 40,000 French troops sent by his cousin Louis Napoleon. He left Rome after the Republican army was defeated in July 1849. He landed at Marseilles, but was ordered to leave the country by Louis Napoleon. He reaffirmed his political beliefs the following year in naming Wilson's bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus respublica) in honor of the republican idea.

He travelled to the United Kingdom, attending the meeting of the British Association in Birmingham. He then visited Sir William Jardine in southern Scotland. Charles then began work on preparing a methodical classification of all the birds in the world, visiting museums across Europe to study the collections. In 1850,[2] he was allowed to return to France and made Paris his home for the rest of his life. In 1854, he became director of the Jardin des Plantes.[2] In 1855, he was made a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He published the first volume of his Conspectus Generum Avium before his death, the second volume being edited by Hermann Schlegel.

Bonaparte also studied amphibians and reptiles, and is the author of Vipera ursinii, commonly known as Orsini's viper.

Bonaparte was extremely prolific and is responsible for coining Latin names for a large number of bird species. As of August 2019, in the online list of birds maintained by Frank Gill and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), Bonaparte is credited as the authority for 165 genera, 203 species and 262 subspecies.[8]

Lucien Charles Bonaparte died in Paris[1] at age 54.

Honours

Family

Prince Charles and Princess Zénaïde Bonaparte had twelve children, listed below:

Name Date of birth Date of death
Joseph Lucien Charles Napoleon Bonaparte, 3rd Prince of Canino and Musignano13 February 18242 September 1865(1865-09-02) (aged 41)
Alexandrine Gertrude Zénaïde Bonaparte9 June 1826May 1828 (age 2)
Lucien Louis Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte, 4th Prince of Canino and Musignano and later a Cardinal15 November 182819 November 1895(1895-11-19) (aged 67)
Julie Charlotte Bonaparte5 June 183028 October 1900(1900-10-28) (aged 70)
Charlotte Honorine Joséphine Pauline Bonaparte4 March 18321 October 1901(1901-10-01) (aged 69)
Léonie Stéphanie Elise Bonaparte18 September 183314 September 1839(1839-09-14) (aged 5)
Marie Désirée Eugénie Joséphine Philomène Bonaparte18 March 183528 August 1890(1890-08-28) (aged 55)
Augusta Amélie Maximilienne Jacqueline Bonaparte (married the son of Charlotte Bonaparte Gabrielli)9 November 183629 March 1900(1900-03-29) (aged 63)
Napoléon Charles Grégoire Jacques Philippe Bonaparte, 5th Prince of Canino and Musignano5 February 183911 February 1899(1899-02-11) (aged 60)
Bathilde Aloïse Léonie Bonaparte26 November 18409 June 1861(1861-06-09) (aged 20)
Albertine Marie Thérèse Bonaparte12 March 18423 June 1842(1842-06-03) (aged 0)
Charles Albert Bonaparte22 March 18436 December 1847(1847-12-06) (aged 4)

Works

In conjunction with M. de Pouancé, he also prepared descriptive catalogue of pigeons and one of parrots which were published after his death. Among his papers published are:

  • “Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's ‘Ornithology,’” Journal of the Academy of Philadelphia
  • “Synopsis of the Birds of the United States,” Annals of the Lyceum of New York
  • “Catalogue of the Birds of the United States,” Contributions of the Maclurian Lyceum of Philadelphia

He published several scientific papers on ornithological topics in the Bolognese journal Nuovi annali delle scienze naturali, as Carlo Luciano Bonaparte.[9]

Ancestry

See also

Several birds are named after him:

References

Footnotes
  1. "Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, prince di Canino e di Musignano - French scientist".
  2. Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Bonaparte, Charles Lucien Jules Laurent" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  3. https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=2003, Charles-Lucien-Jules-Laurent Bonaparte
  4. https://www.audubongalleries.com/education/bonaparte.php, The Bonaparte Audubons
  5. "MemberListB".
  6. https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=2003, Charles-Lucien-Jules-Laurent Bonaparte
  7. Ridley, Jasper (1976). Garibaldi. Viking Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-670-33548-7.
  8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "IOC World Bird List Version 9.2". International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  9. Nuovi annali delle scienze naturali. Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Bibliography
  • Thomas, Phillip Drennon (2002). "The emperor of nature: Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and his world. [Review of: Stroud, P.T. The emperor of nature: Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and his world. Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania Pr., 2000]". Journal of American History (Bloomington, Ind.). 88 (4). p. 1517. PMID 16845779.
  • Stroud, Patricia Tyson - The Emperor of Nature. Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and his World ISBN 0-8122-3546-0
  • Mearns, Barbara and Richard - Biographies for Birdwatchers ISBN 0-12-487422-3
  • Ridley, Jasper - Garibaldi Viking Press (1976)
  • Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Charles-Lucien-Jules-Laurent Bonaparte" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Born: 24 May 1803 Died: 29 July 1857
Titles of nobility
Preceded by
Lucien I		 Prince of Canino and Musignano
1840–1857		 Succeeded by
Joseph
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