Mathilde Bonaparte

Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française, Princess of San Donato (27 May 1820 – 2 January 1904), was a French princess and salonnière. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg. Biography Born in Trieste, Mathilde Bonaparte was raised in Florence and Rome. She was originally engaged to her first cousin, the future Napoleon III of France, but the engagement was cancelled following his imprisonment at Ham. She married a rich Russian nobleman, Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato, on November 1, 1840 in Rome. Anatole was raised to the position of Prince by Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany shortly before the wedding to fulfill the wishes of Mathilde's father and to preserve Mathilde's position as Princess. Anatole's princely title was never recognised in Russia. They had no children. The marriage between these two strong and prominent personalities was stormy. Prince Demidov insisted on keeping his mistress, Valentine, Duchess of Dino, which of course was fiercely resisted by Mathilde. In 1846, Mathilde fled the household for Paris with her new lover Émilien de Nieuwerkerke and with Anatole's jewelry. The jewelry constituted the dowry that Anatole was forced to bankroll for his father-in-law, so it formed the property of Anatole.