The French statesman Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), younger brother of Napoleon I, was king of Holland from 1806 to 1810.

Louis Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica, on Sept. 2, 1778, the seventh child of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. He received a military education in France, and in 1796 he joined his brother Napoleon in Italy, where he served 2 years with the army. In 1798 he accompanied Napoleon to Egypt as his aide-de-camp. Returning to France in 1799, Louis played no part in the coup d'etat of Brumaire. In 1802 Napoleon and Josephine arranged a marriage between Louis and Hortense de Beauharnais, Josephine's daughter by her first marriage. But the marriage was based on neither love nor mutual respect and proved to be an unhappy experience for both.

Louis showed no aptitude for military life and did not take part in the numerous French campaigns. In 1806 Napoleon placed him on the throne of Holland, but he...