To commemorate or not to commemorate the figure of Napoleon?
In any case, President Emmanuel Macron has already decided, and
on May 5 he will celebrate the bicentenary of his death
, as the emperor is "a major figure in our history", announced today the spokesman of the government, Gabriel Attal, specifying that the modalities of these celebrations will be announced "later by the Elysée".
Died on May 5, 1821 while he was in exile on the island of Sant'Elena, Napoleon is
"a major figure in our history"
, who must be looked "in the face", with "eyes wide open", "including for those moments that they may have been difficult "and for" choices that appear questionable today, "Attal said at the end of the council of ministers in Paris.
In France, whether or not to celebrate the bicentenary of the emperor's death
raises debate
.
Napoleon is at the same time one of the favorite characters of the French and
a controversial figure
for his action during the fifteen years in which he exercised power, between 1799 and 1815. Last Sunday, for example, the minister in charge of Equal Opportunities, Elisabeth Moreno, harshly criticized the emperor saying, among other things, that he was
"among the greatest misogynists" and for having "restored slavery
", while acknowledging that he is
a "great man in French history. "
.
At the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, a large exhibition dedicated to the figure of Napoleon is scheduled to take place between April 14 and September 19, Covid permitting.
The ambition is "to make a fair portrait of a fascinating character who has shaped contemporary France";
say the organizers, including the Réunion des musées nationaux (RMN).
Numerous reviews are also planned in A
jaccio, Corsica, the city of Napoleon's birth
, including a costume reconstitution of the repatriation of his ashes from Sant'Elena to Paris in 1840.
