Napoleon I of France: Encyclopedia II - Napoleon I of France - Exile in Saint Helena and death

Napoleon I of France - Exile in Saint Helena and death

Napoleon was imprisoned and then exiled by the British to the island of Saint Helena (2,800 km off the Bight of Guinea) from 15 October 1815. While there, with a small cadre of followers, he dictated his memoirs and criticized his captors. Sick for much his time on Saint Helena, Napoleon died, on 5 May 1821. His last words were: "France, the Army, head of the Army, Joséphine".

Napoléon had asked in his will to be buried on the banks of the Seine, but was buried on Saint Helena. In 1840, his remains were taken to France in the frigate Belle-Poule and entombed in Les Invalides, Paris. Hundreds of millions have visited his tomb since that date.

Napoleon I of France - Cause of death

The cause of Napoleon's death has been greatly disputed. Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon's personal physician, listed stomach cancer as the reason for Napoleon's death in his death certificate.

The diaries of Louis Marchand, Napoleon's valet, have led some (most notably Sten Forshufvud and Ben Weider) to conclude that Napoleon was killed by arsenic poisoning, although whether he was murdered or ingested arsenic in some accidental way (it was used in wallpaper as a green pigment, and in some medicines) is still under dispute. In 2001, Pascal Kintz, of the Strasbourg Forensic Institute in France, added credence to this claim with a study of arsenic levels found in a lock of Napoleon's hair preserved after his death that were seven to thirty-eight times higher than normal (although this is disputable, because another use of arsenic at the time of Napoleon's death was to preserve samples of hair).

In 2005 Pascal Kintz identified in the medulla of authenticated hairs of Napoleon Bonaparte from various sources "rat poison" as the specific type of arsenic and mercury from the calomel (Hg₂Cl₂) a cathartic which was given to Napoleon during the lethal phase. The issues of external contamination from wall paper, the water and other disputed theories were addressed in his latest publication and refuted. There is no question that Napoleon was given rat poison (which was a toxic form of arsenic) as part of the cosmetic phase of his assasination. It was delivered to the hair shaft in the medulla by the blood. That he was poisoned is no longer an issue. Who of his companions poisoned him is not proved, although Montolon had opportunity, means and motive.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Exile in Saint Helena and death", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki