William Bonaparte-Wyse

Captain William Charles Bonaparte-Wyse (20 January 1826 – 3 December 1892) was an Irish soldier and poet.

William Bonaparte-Wyse
Born20 January 1826
Waterford, Ireland
Died3 December 1892
Cannes, France
OccupationPoet
TitleCaptain
Spouse(s)Ellen Linzee Prout
Children4 sons, including Andrew Bonaparte-Wyse
Parent(s)Thomas Wyse
Laetitia Bonaparte
RelativesLucien Bonaparte (maternal grandfather)

Early life

William Charles Bonaparte-Wyse was born in Waterford, the son of the politician and educational reformer Sir Thomas Wyse, and Laetitia, daughter of Lucien Bonaparte.

Career

Nicknamed lo felibre irlandés,[1] he wrote in Provençal, was a friend of Frédéric Mistral, and became the only foreign member of the consistory of the Félibrige, the Provençal cultural association. His collection Li Parpaioun Blu (The Blue Butterflies) was published in 1868, with a foreword by Mistral. He created the Provençal dish of dried figs poached in whiskey.[2]

Bonaparte-Wyse was appointed High Sheriff of County Waterford for 1855. He was commissioned Captain in the 9th Wiltshire Rifle Volunteer Corps in July 1866. He also served in the Waterford Artillery.

Personal life

He married in 1864, in London, Ellen Linzee Prout (1842–1925, niece of Servant of God Sister Elizabeth Prout), and they had four sons. He was the father of Permanent Secretary Andrew Nicholas Bonaparte-Wyse (1870–1940). His eldest son's godfather was Frédéric Mistral.[3]

Death

He died, aged 66, in 1892, at Cannes, and is buried there in the Cimetière du Grand Jas.

References
  1. Mistral, Frederic (1878–1886). Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige. Vol. 2 (G-Z). p. 143.
  2. Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne (1992). A History of Food. Translated by Anthea Bell. Blackwell. p. 674.
  3. Austin, Lloyd James (1987). Poetic Principles and Practice: Occasional Papers on Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Valéry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 184.

Further reading
  • "William Bonaparte-Wyse, un Provençal d’Irlande" edition N° 114, 1992 of La France latine, Revue d’études d’oc
  • Paz, D. G. (2004). "Wyse, Sir Thomas (1791–1862)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
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