Marie Josèphe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie, better known as Giuseppina di Beauharnais, was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I from 1796 to 1809. As such, she was Empress of the French from 1804 to 1809 and Queen of Italy from 1805 to 1809 .
The name "Giuseppina di Beauharnais" is incorrect. In fact, she has never been called this way in her life: from the time of her marriage to Alexander of Beauharnais, she was called Marie Josèphe Rose. It was Napoleon who gave it the name of Giuseppina and the ultrarealist newspapers that announced the death of «Madame widow of Beauharnais». One can therefore speak of "Giuseppina Bonaparte", "Rose de Tascher", "Rose Tascher de La Pagerie" or "Rose of Beauharnais".
Nicknamed "the beautiful Creole", Giuseppina was born into a great property of Martinique. He arrived in France thanks to his marriage to Alexander of Beauharnais who became a figure of the French Revolution. In fact, he was killed during the Terror and Giuseppina was imprisoned a few months later. Attending the salons of Paris, he met General Bonaparte with whom he remarried. This second matrimony allowed her to become an empress but she often clashed with her new family and failed to give her husband an heir. Napoleon divorced her and she retired to her domain of Malmaison. Despite her sterile marriage with Napoleon, Giuseppina left her descendants thanks to her two children from their first marriage. It has remained in history for its interest in fashion and botany.
When it became clear that Giuseppina could not give an heir to Napoleon due to registry issues, the emperor decided to accept the invitation of his counselors and to start the procedures for the declaration of nullity of the marriage, recognized by the official of the Parisian archdiocese the 11 January 1810.
After the declaration of nullity of the marriage, Giuseppina lived the last years of her life in the castle of Malmaison, near Paris. He remained on good terms with Napoleon.
In his country home Giuseppina continued his work of restoration and beautification of both the building and the park. Dissatisfied with the roses that were available at that time, small and short flowering, she had two hundred varieties of roses from Persia planted in the gardens of the estate. Rose tea was later isolated first and then the perennial Hybrid, with double and flowering flowers and from which many of the roses that are currently on the market come from.
At his death in 1814, he was buried not far from Malmaison, in the church of Saints Peter and Paul in Rueil. Next to her was her daughter Ortensia buried.