François Carlo Antommarchi (5 July 1780 in Morsiglia, Corsica – 4 March 1838 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba) was Napoleon's physician from 1818 to his death in 1821.
He began his studies in Livorno, Italy, and later earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine at the University of Pisa in March 1808. Antommarchi then went to Florence, Italy, and was attached to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova.[nb 1] Antommarchi earned the diploma of Surgeon in 1812 from the University of Florence (i.e. Imperial University) and was appointed by its president as Prosector. While in this capacity, Antommarchi worked under Paolo Mascagni (1752–1815)[1] starting on 7 July 1813.
Antommarchi left Florence for Saint Helena to become Napoleon I's physician until his death. Antommarchi took up this position at the behest of Napoleon's mother Maria Letizia Ramolino and his uncle Cardinal Joseph Fesch.[2] Antommarchi received a letter of employment on 19 December 1818. Antommarchi was sent to St. Helena in replacement of Dr Barry Edward O'Meara as Napoleon's personal physician, because the illustrious captive would not agree to accept medical officers such as Dr Alexander Baxter or Dr James Roch Verling, who were proposed to him by his custodian Sir Hudson Lowe. However, Napoleon was not so impressed by Antommarchi's medical skills and even dismissed him from his service a couple of times, only to let him resume his duty soon after. In the last moments of illness, Antommarchi was assisted by Dr Archibald Arnott, who was accepted by Napoleon at the pressing demands from his two officers, Count Montholon and Grand-Marshal Bertrand.[3] After Napoleon's death, Antommarchi wrote The Last Moments of Napoleon where he concluded that Napoleon died of stomach cancer.
In 1831 Antommarchi went to Poland and became the general inspector of Polish hospitals during November Uprising[4] where he assisted the Polish people in an uprising against the Russians. He fled to Paris to escape the czar's forces.
Antommarchi then immigrated to Louisiana where he donated the bronze death mask of Napoleon to the people of New Orleans in 1834. Antommarchi lived in Veracruz, Mexico, for a brief period, and was employed there as an itinerant physician. He moved from Mexico and settled in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, where he again worked as a physician and privately taught anatomy and sculpting. The move to Cuba was prompted by Antommarchi seeking his cousin Antonio Juan Benjamin Antommarchi,[5] who made his fortune in coffee plantations. Antommarchi became adept at performing surgery for the removal of cataracts. He died in Cuba, of yellow fever, on 3 April 1838, at the age of 57.[6]
Antommarchi's diary contained detail records of his medical care for Napoleon. This diary is a source for numerous books published between 1823 and 1826. These books have been published in many languages including French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions, Paris, 1823
Paolo Mascagni (1752–1815) was the most celebrated anatomist of his day. Antommarchi became Prosector to Mascagni who left manuscripts and drawings for an intended publication of a comprehensive complete anatomy with life-size figures. Antommarchi prepared the publication but was meanwhile called to Saint Helena. Antommarchi left, taking with him three copies of Mascagni's plates. When Antommarchi returned, he published these plates, printed from lithographs, under his own name in a monumental work which appeared from 1823 to 1826 under the title of: "Planches anatomiques du corps humain exécutées d'après les dimensions naturelles accompagnées d'un texte explicatif".[25][26][27][28] The plates for the publication were drawn and possibly engraved by Antoine Seratoni.
Paolo Mascagni's anatomical drawing with Antommarchi's annotations.
Name variants
François Carlo Antommarchi's original name has many variants in the literature due to translations and misspellings:
François Carlo Antommarchi (original name)
François Charles Antommarchi (French translation)
Francesco Carlo Antonmarchi (Italian translation)
Francisco Carlos Antommarchi (Spanish translation)
Francis Charles Antommarchi (English translation)
Francesco Carlo Antomarchi (misspelling)
The phonetic pronunciation of "François" is "frahn-swah".
Controversy
Birth
The literature cites both 1780[2] and 1789[29] as the birth date of Antommarchi.
Napoleon's death mask
It is unclear if the original cast for the death mask of Napoleon made by Antommarchi survived. It is said that Antommarchi's cast failed but Dr Francis Burton apparently took another cast which survived. To complicate matters, Madame Bertrand, apparently related to Henri Gatien Bertrand and Napoleon's attendant, is said to have stolen a large part of the cast taken by Burton and given it to Antommarchi.[30]
No unequivocal and decisive proof has ever been presented to settle this controversy and it may never be resolved. Possible motivations for this controversy, for both parties, can include but are not limited to:
Fierce rivalry between the conquerors, i.e. the British, and the conquered, i.e. the French
Profiteering
Fameseeking
Cast of Napoleon's right hand
Despite a post-mortem cast of Bonaparte's right hand, allegedly by Antommarchi, sold[31] and exhibited in museums,[32][33] none of the persons that were present in Saint Helena when Napoleon died ever reported that such a cast occurred. On the contrary, his servant Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis regrets in his memoirs that nobody had the idea to cast Napoleon's hands.[34]
Mascagni Heirs
A legal dispute between Antommarchi and the heirs of Mascagni regarding the rights to Mascagni's plates was never resolved.[35][36][37]
^The "Death of Napoleon" painting is currently displayed at Musée de l'Armée in Paris, France.
References
^""Paolo Mascagni", The University of Iowa, 12 June 2006". Lib.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^ abThomason, Henry D., "Napoleon, the First Emperor of France: From St. Helena to Santiago de Cuba. Being a Summary of Facts Concerning the Latter Days of Dr. François Antomarchi, the Last Physician to His Imperial Majesty", 1910 [2]
^Sven Jonas Stille, Podróż do Polski, Warszawa 1985, p. 137.
^Saby, Claude-Alain, "1815 Les naufragés de l'Empire aux Amériques", 2007 [3]
^ ab. Acquirecontent.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^Garzón-Sobrado, Eduardo, "Speech at the historic restoration of the death mask of the Emperor Napoleon I to the people of Mexico in the Chapultepec Palace, 25 July 2005 [4]
^"Louisiana Purchase". Lsm.crt.state.la.us. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
^"The Art Institute of Chicago: Home: Under Construction". Artic.edu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^. Lib.unc.edu. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^"Instituto Napoleónico México-Francia". Inmf.org. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^. Mnh.inah.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^"Document sans nom". Invalides.org. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^"St. Louis Mercantile Library". Umsl.edu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^Las Cases, Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné, Napoleon, Antommarchi, Francesco, O'Meara, Barry Edward, Charlet, Nicolas-Toussaint, "Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène", 1842 [6]
^Antommarchi, Francesco, "The last days of the Emperor Napoleon: By Doctor F. Antommarchi, His Physician. In Two Volumes.", 1825 [7]
^Thomason, Henry D., Antommarchi, Francesco, "Napoleon, the First Emperor of France: From St. Helena to Santiago de Cuba. Being a Summary of Facts Concerning the Latter Days of Dr. François Antomarchi, the Last Physician to His Imperial Majesty", 1910 [8]
^Napoleon, Gourgaud, Gaspard, Montholon, Charles-Tristan, O'Meara, Barry Edward, Las Cases, Emanuel Auguste Dieudonné Marius Joseph, Antommarchi, Francesco, "Memoirs of the History of France During the Reign of Napoleon" 1823 [9]
^Antommarchi, Francesco, "The last days of Napoleon: memoirs of the last two years of Napoleon's exile", 1826 [10]
^Antommarchi, Francesco, "Derniers momens de Napoléon, ou, Complément du Mémorial de Ste-Hélène: ou complément du mémorial de Ste-Hélène", 1825 [11]
^Antommarchi, Francesco, "Mémoires du docteur Antommarchi, ou, Les derniers momens de Napoléon: ou Les derniers momens de Napoléon", 1825 [12]
^Antommarchi, François, "Mémoires du docteur F. Antommarchi, ou Les derniers momens de Napoléon", 1825 [13]
^Antommarchi, Francesco C., "Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions", 1826 [14]
^Antommarchi, Francisco, "Prodromo della grande anatomia seconda opera pstuma di Paolo Mascagni, posta in ordine, e poblicata a spese di una Societa innominata da Francisco Antommarchi", 1819
^Antommarchi, Francisco, "Tavole figurate di aalcume porti organiche del corpo umano degli animali e dei vegetablii, esposte nel prodromo della grande anatomia di Paolo Mascagni", 1819
^Albert Chauncey Eycleshymer; Daniel Martin Schoemaker (1917). Anatomical Names: Especially the Basle Nomina Anatomica ("BNA"). W. Wood. p. 192.
^Gourdol, Jean-Yves, "Francesco Antommarchi 1789 – 1838. Physician Napoleon in Saint Helena", [15] 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^. Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2010. and ""Mystery of Napoleons Death Mask", The New York Times, 15 April 1915" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 August 1915. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^. Designtoscano.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^""Napoleon, Prisoner — Post-mortem: The reliquaries", 2006". Napoleonprisonnier.com. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
^ Saint-Denis, Louis-Étienne (Mameluck Ali); Bourachot, Christophe (2000). Souvenirs sur l'empereur Napoléon. Paris: Arléa. p. 277. ISBN978-2-86959-493-7. Il est très fâcheux que l'on n'ait pas pensé à mouler les mains, lesquelles cependant étaient assez belles pour être conservées.
^Choulant, Ludwig, Mortimer, Frank, Fielding, Hudson G., Streeter, Edward C., "History and bibliography of anatomic illustration in its relation to anatomic science and the graphic arts", 1852 [17]
^Knight, Charles, "Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge: Second supplement", 1858 [18]
^. Lib.uiowa.edu. 3 November 2002. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
External links
Death mask of Napoleon at the Chapultepec Castle, Mexico 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
January 18, 2023
françois, carlo, antommarchi, july, 1780, morsiglia, corsica, march, 1838, santiago, cuba, cuba, napoleon, physician, from, 1818, death, 1821, born, 1780, july, 1780morsiglia, corsicadied3, april, 1838, 1838, aged, santiago, cuba, cubaoccupationdoctor, medicin. Francois Carlo Antommarchi 5 July 1780 in Morsiglia Corsica 4 March 1838 in Santiago de Cuba Cuba was Napoleon s physician from 1818 to his death in 1821 Dr Francois Carlo AntommarchiDr Francois Carlo AntommarchiBorn 1780 07 05 5 July 1780Morsiglia CorsicaDied3 April 1838 1838 04 03 aged 57 Santiago de Cuba CubaOccupationDoctor of Medicine SurgeonParent s Juan Antommarchi and Bidgetta MateyHe began his studies in Livorno Italy and later earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine at the University of Pisa in March 1808 Antommarchi then went to Florence Italy and was attached to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova nb 1 Antommarchi earned the diploma of Surgeon in 1812 from the University of Florence i e Imperial University and was appointed by its president as Prosector While in this capacity Antommarchi worked under Paolo Mascagni 1752 1815 1 starting on 7 July 1813 Antommarchi left Florence for Saint Helena to become Napoleon I s physician until his death Antommarchi took up this position at the behest of Napoleon s mother Maria Letizia Ramolino and his uncle Cardinal Joseph Fesch 2 Antommarchi received a letter of employment on 19 December 1818 Antommarchi was sent to St Helena in replacement of Dr Barry Edward O Meara as Napoleon s personal physician because the illustrious captive would not agree to accept medical officers such as Dr Alexander Baxter or Dr James Roch Verling who were proposed to him by his custodian Sir Hudson Lowe However Napoleon was not so impressed by Antommarchi s medical skills and even dismissed him from his service a couple of times only to let him resume his duty soon after In the last moments of illness Antommarchi was assisted by Dr Archibald Arnott who was accepted by Napoleon at the pressing demands from his two officers Count Montholon and Grand Marshal Bertrand 3 After Napoleon s death Antommarchi wrote The Last Moments of Napoleon where he concluded that Napoleon died of stomach cancer In 1831 Antommarchi went to Poland and became the general inspector of Polish hospitals during November Uprising 4 where he assisted the Polish people in an uprising against the Russians He fled to Paris to escape the czar s forces Antommarchi then immigrated to Louisiana where he donated the bronze death mask of Napoleon to the people of New Orleans in 1834 Antommarchi lived in Veracruz Mexico for a brief period and was employed there as an itinerant physician He moved from Mexico and settled in Santiago de Cuba Cuba where he again worked as a physician and privately taught anatomy and sculpting The move to Cuba was prompted by Antommarchi seeking his cousin Antonio Juan Benjamin Antommarchi 5 who made his fortune in coffee plantations Antommarchi became adept at performing surgery for the removal of cataracts He died in Cuba of yellow fever on 3 April 1838 at the age of 57 6 Contents 1 Life chronology 2 Works 2 1 Dissertation on cataract 1808 2 2 Napoleon s Death Mask 1821 2 3 Diary of Napoleon s Medical Care 2 4 Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions Paris 1823 3 Name variants 4 Controversy 4 1 Birth 4 2 Napoleon s death mask 4 3 Cast of Napoleon s right hand 4 4 Mascagni Heirs 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksLife chronology EditEvent Place DateBirth Morsiglia Corsica France 5 July 1780Earned Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine Degree Pisa Italy March 1808Earned Surgeon Diploma Florence Italy 1812Became Prosector Florence Italy 7 July 1813Became Napoleon I s physician Saint Helena United Kingdom 19 December 1818Arrived in Saint Helena 6 Saint Helena United Kingdom 10 September 1819Made Napoleon s Death Mask Saint Helena United Kingdom 7 May 1821Published Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions Paris France 1823Published various books based on his diary of Napoleon s medical care 1823 1826Became general inspector of Polish hospitals Poland 1831Moved to Santiago de Cuba Cuba Santiago de Cuba Cuba 1834Visited Louisiana Louisiana United States 1834Visited Veracruz Veracruz Mexico June July 1837 7 Death Santiago de Cuba Cuba 3 April 1838Works Edit Death of Napoleon by Charles de Steuben 1828 Dr Antommarchi is standing next to Napoleon with his hand on the pillow nb 2 Death Mask of Napoleon front view Dissertation on cataract 1808 Edit This work is mentioned in The Memorial of Saint Helena by Emmanuel comte de Las Cases 8 Napoleon s Death Mask 1821 Edit On 7 May 1821 Antommarchi took a plaster cast of Napoleon s face Numerous copies of this cast have been made and some can be seen at these locations Louisiana State Museum The Cabildo New Orleans Louisiana United States 9 Museo Napoleonico de La Habana Habana Cuba 10 Art Institute of Chicago Chicago Illinois United States 11 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill North Carolina United States 12 Museo Nacional de Historia Chapultepec Castle Mexico City Mexico 13 14 Musee de l Armee Paris France 15 St Louis Mercantile Library St Louis Missouri United States 16 Diary of Napoleon s Medical Care Edit Antommarchi s diary contained detail records of his medical care for Napoleon This diary is a source for numerous books published between 1823 and 1826 These books have been published in many languages including French English German Italian and Spanish 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions Paris 1823 Edit Paolo Mascagni 1752 1815 was the most celebrated anatomist of his day Antommarchi became Prosector to Mascagni who left manuscripts and drawings for an intended publication of a comprehensive complete anatomy with life size figures Antommarchi prepared the publication but was meanwhile called to Saint Helena Antommarchi left taking with him three copies of Mascagni s plates When Antommarchi returned he published these plates printed from lithographs under his own name in a monumental work which appeared from 1823 to 1826 under the title of Planches anatomiques du corps humain executees d apres les dimensions naturelles accompagnees d un texte explicatif 25 26 27 28 The plates for the publication were drawn and possibly engraved by Antoine Seratoni Paolo Mascagni s anatomical drawing with Antommarchi s annotations Name variants EditFrancois Carlo Antommarchi s original name has many variants in the literature due to translations and misspellings Francois Carlo Antommarchi original name Francois Charles Antommarchi French translation Francesco Carlo Antonmarchi Italian translation Francisco Carlos Antommarchi Spanish translation Francis Charles Antommarchi English translation Francesco Carlo Antomarchi misspelling The phonetic pronunciation of Francois is frahn swah Controversy EditBirth Edit The literature cites both 1780 2 and 1789 29 as the birth date of Antommarchi Napoleon s death mask Edit It is unclear if the original cast for the death mask of Napoleon made by Antommarchi survived It is said that Antommarchi s cast failed but Dr Francis Burton apparently took another cast which survived To complicate matters Madame Bertrand apparently related to Henri Gatien Bertrand and Napoleon s attendant is said to have stolen a large part of the cast taken by Burton and given it to Antommarchi 30 No unequivocal and decisive proof has ever been presented to settle this controversy and it may never be resolved Possible motivations for this controversy for both parties can include but are not limited to Fierce rivalry between the conquerors i e the British and the conquered i e the French Profiteering FameseekingCast of Napoleon s right hand Edit Despite a post mortem cast of Bonaparte s right hand allegedly by Antommarchi sold 31 and exhibited in museums 32 33 none of the persons that were present in Saint Helena when Napoleon died ever reported that such a cast occurred On the contrary his servant Louis Etienne Saint Denis regrets in his memoirs that nobody had the idea to cast Napoleon s hands 34 Mascagni Heirs Edit A legal dispute between Antommarchi and the heirs of Mascagni regarding the rights to Mascagni s plates was never resolved 35 36 37 Notes Edit Leonardo da Vinci studied anatomy at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova 1 The Death of Napoleon painting is currently displayed at Musee de l Armee in Paris France References Edit Paolo Mascagni The University of Iowa 12 June 2006 Lib uiowa edu Retrieved 10 October 2010 a b Thomason Henry D Napoleon the First Emperor of France From St Helena to Santiago de Cuba Being a Summary of Facts Concerning the Latter Days of Dr Francois Antomarchi the Last Physician to His Imperial Majesty 1910 2 see Chronology of Napoleon s last months of illness Usurped Sven Jonas Stille Podroz do Polski Warszawa 1985 p 137 Saby Claude Alain 1815 Les naufrages de l Empire aux Ameriques 2007 3 a b Reynolds James Head and Upper Body 2006 Acquirecontent com Archived from the original on 14 September 2009 Retrieved 10 October 2010 Garzon Sobrado Eduardo Speech at the historic restoration of the death mask of the Emperor Napoleon I to the people of Mexico in the Chapultepec Palace 25 July 2005 4 De Las Cases Emmanuel The Memorial of Saint Helena 1823 5 Louisiana Purchase Lsm crt state la us Retrieved 10 October 2010 Galerka Archived from the original on 7 October 2008 Retrieved 24 May 2009 The Art Institute of Chicago Home Under Construction Artic edu Retrieved 10 October 2010 North Carolina Collection Napoleon Death Mask Lib unc edu 27 May 2009 Archived from the original on 26 July 2013 Retrieved 10 October 2010 Instituto Napoleonico Mexico Francia Inmf org Retrieved 10 October 2010 Museo Nacional De Historia Mnh inah gob mx Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 10 October 2010 Document sans nom Invalides org Retrieved 10 October 2010 St Louis Mercantile Library Umsl edu Retrieved 10 October 2010 Las Cases Emmanuel Auguste Dieudonne Napoleon Antommarchi Francesco O Meara Barry Edward Charlet Nicolas Toussaint Memorial de Sainte Helene 1842 6 Antommarchi Francesco The last days of the Emperor Napoleon By Doctor F Antommarchi His Physician In Two Volumes 1825 7 Thomason Henry D Antommarchi Francesco Napoleon the First Emperor of France From St Helena to Santiago de Cuba Being a Summary of Facts Concerning the Latter Days of Dr Francois Antomarchi the Last Physician to His Imperial Majesty 1910 8 Napoleon Gourgaud Gaspard Montholon Charles Tristan O Meara Barry Edward Las Cases Emanuel Auguste Dieudonne Marius Joseph Antommarchi Francesco Memoirs of the History of France During the Reign of Napoleon 1823 9 Antommarchi Francesco The last days of Napoleon memoirs of the last two years of Napoleon s exile 1826 10 Antommarchi Francesco Derniers momens de Napoleon ou Complement du Memorial de Ste Helene ou complement du memorial de Ste Helene 1825 11 Antommarchi Francesco Memoires du docteur Antommarchi ou Les derniers momens de Napoleon ou Les derniers momens de Napoleon 1825 12 Antommarchi Francois Memoires du docteur F Antommarchi ou Les derniers momens de Napoleon 1825 13 Antommarchi Francesco C Anatomical Prints of the Human Body with Natural Dimensions 1826 14 Antommarchi Francisco Prodromo della grande anatomia seconda opera pstuma di Paolo Mascagni posta in ordine e poblicata a spese di una Societa innominata da Francisco Antommarchi 1819 Antommarchi Francisco Tavole figurate di aalcume porti organiche del corpo umano degli animali e dei vegetablii esposte nel prodromo della grande anatomia di Paolo Mascagni 1819 Albert Chauncey Eycleshymer Daniel Martin Schoemaker 1917 Anatomical Names Especially the Basle Nomina Anatomica BNA W Wood p 192 Gourdol Jean Yves Francesco Antommarchi 1789 1838 Physician Napoleon in Saint Helena 15 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Napolean s death mask National Museums Liverpool Liverpoolmuseums org uk Archived from the original on 8 June 2011 Retrieved 10 October 2010 and Mystery of Napoleons Death Mask The New York Times 15 April 1915 PDF The New York Times 15 August 1915 Retrieved 10 October 2010 Historical Hand of Napoleon Bonaparte Designs Toscano Designtoscano com Archived from the original on 30 March 2010 Retrieved 10 October 2010 Napoleon Prisoner Post mortem The reliquaries 2006 Napoleonprisonnier com Retrieved 10 October 2010 The Arcole Napoleonic Museum 16 Saint Denis Louis Etienne Mameluck Ali Bourachot Christophe 2000 Souvenirs sur l empereur Napoleon Paris Arlea p 277 ISBN 978 2 86959 493 7 Il est tres facheux que l on n ait pas pense a mouler les mains lesquelles cependant etaient assez belles pour etre conservees Choulant Ludwig Mortimer Frank Fielding Hudson G Streeter Edward C History and bibliography of anatomic illustration in its relation to anatomic science and the graphic arts 1852 17 Knight Charles Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge Second supplement 1858 18 Eimas Richard The Great Anatomy of Paolo Mascagni 1963 Lib uiowa edu 3 November 2002 Archived from the original on 9 July 2018 Retrieved 10 October 2010 External links EditMuseo Napoleonico de La Habana Death mask of Napoleon at the Chapultepec Castle Mexico Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Francois Carlo Antommarchi amp oldid 1127240179, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
