200 years since Napoleon’s death

Di Alessandro Liberati

On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died on the island of Sant’Elena.

Napoleon Bonaparte, in addition to being emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, was one of the greatest leaders that history has ever had. In fact, through his innovative and fulminating war strategies, he was able to conquer a large part of Europe within 15 years. However, some missteps, such as the Russian campaign and the definitive defeat at Waterloo, destined Napoleon to an end not worthy of his deeds: exile on the remote island of St. Helena.

His stay at Sant’Elena described by Alessandro Manzoni in the ode “May 5”, in which he retraces the glorious past of the leader and puts him in contrast with the dark present, characterized by a tormented loneliness. The poem ends with the end of these torments thanks to his conversion, which will allow him to access the “eternal fields”, where the glory of the past becomes “silence and darkness”.

So, on this day, Napoleon’s genius is remembered on the one hand, and Manzoni’s famous ode on the other.