That was the Napoleonic year that was: the Fondation Napoléon in 2010

 
Though significantly darkened by the death of our much-loved honorary president, Baron Gourgaud, 2010 was nevertheless, to quote Frank Sinatra, “a very good year”.
 
On 6 August, the founding father of the Fondation Napoléon in 1987 and president of the institution from that date until 2005, the Baron Gourgaud, died peacefully in his bed. He was a descendant of one of Napoleon's most faithful officers and a companion on Saint Helena and he worked tirelessly to make the Fondation what it is today. He will be sorely missed. Another serious loss in the year was that of the eminent financial historian, Professor François Crouzet, member of our history prize jury. Robert Chénier, president of the Association for the conservation of Napoleonic monuments (ACMN), who worked hard in the restoration notably of Second Empire architectural heritage, also passed away this year.
 
On a more positive note, the beginning of the year saw the creation of our digital library, with a dozen or so texts online, including the famous book of Napoleon's coronation with its zoom-able images. This is soon to become a repository of hundreds of useful Napoleonic books, consultable 24/7 and free of charge via napoleon.org.
 
Simultaneously our online research e-journal, Napoleonica. La Revue, changed platform (to be hosted by Cairn.info) and became free of charge. Issue seven with its musicological texts went on to have the highest consultation figures in the journal's existence.
 
June saw the two events of significance for institution. The first was the international conference on the year 1810 (a joint Fondation Napoléon and Souvenir Napoléonien project in collaboration with the French national diplomatic archives) which brought to Paris some the world's best Napoleonic historians; the proceedings were published last month. The second was our commemoration of Napoleon marriage to Maris-Louise with the concert of period music celebrating the union held in the cathedral at Les Invalides. The great and good of the Napoleonic world (including the Princess Napoléon and Jean Tulard) were present to hear works by Méhul not performed since 1810.
 
And as if that weren't enough, François Houdecek oversaw the difficult birth of volume seven of the Correspondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte which covers 1807, a year highlighted by the Treaty of Tilsit. We are now almost exactly halfway in our gigantic project to publish all the known letters of Napoleon.
 
The 6 April saw the signing of a partnership convention between the Fondation Napoléon and the Musée de l'Armée. As part of this agreement, the Musée and the Fondation have agreed to continue to collaborate in the organisation of: events, notably exhibitions, academic exchanges and, more generally, anything that will encourage the development of Napoleonic history and the public interest thereof. July saw the definitive opening of the brand new Marengo Museum in Alessandria (Italy), a project piloted by Giulio Massobrio. This extraordinary “museum without objects” was supported by the Fondation as one of its international partnerships.

In December we awarded our bursaries and history prizes, this year giving accolades to Vincent Haegele for his excellent book Napoléon et Joseph Bonaparte : Le pouvoir et l'ambition, Gabriel Badea-Paün, for his book on Second Empire style and to the distinguished British historian, Dominic Lieven, for his work in English on Russia against Napoleon.

And we look forward with excitement to 2011 for, among others, our community project to help restore Napoleon's house on Saint Helena.
 
Thanks for your continued support.