The most famous Frenchman in history was born at Ajaccio, Corsica on 15 August, 1769. Consequently Napoleon Bonaparte was not, in fact French. He was, though, a French subject as a result of the ceding of Corsica to France by the Genoese in 1768. His family was upper-middle class. His father Carlo was a political opportunist who gained acceptance into the French aristocracy. At the age of 10 Napoleon entered the military academy at Brienne, France. In 1784 he won …showed first 75 words of 823 total…

…showed last 75 words of 823 total…the British forces, reinforced by the Prussians, met the French at Waterloo. The allies decided to exile him to the rocky island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic. Situated a thousand miles off the African Coast Napoleon was now well and truly out of the way. On 5 May, 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte died on his island. He was fifty one years old, but during his lifetime, he expanded France to the biggest it had ever been.