Son of Napoleon I and the Polish countess Maria Walewska, Alexandre Walewski was born in 1810 with a parentage that no one ignored and no document acknowledged. His native Poland lay under Russian rule: ordered at fourteen to serve the tsar, he refused, fled to London, and France turned down the demand for his extradition. In 1856 that fugitive presided over the congress that closed the Crimean War — the war France had just won against Russia.
The story
Born on 4 May 1810 of the affair between Napoleon I and the Polish countess Maria Walewska, Alexandre Walewski grew up with a parentage nobody was unaware of and no document established. He took part in the Polish rising of 1830, then became a naturalised Frenchman in 1833.
He served first in the Foreign Legion in North Africa, then went into diplomacy: he represented France in Florence, in Naples, and then in London from 1851 to 1855, at a time when Europe was rearranging itself.
His long affair with the tragic actress Rachel gave him a son in 1844, from whom the present Colonna-Walewski line descends.
Foreign minister to Napoleon III — his cousin, not his half-brother — he presided in 1856 over the Congress of Paris that closed the Crimean War. A senator and a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, he succeeded the duc de Morny as president of the Corps législatif after Morny's death in 1865.
He died of a heart attack at Strasbourg on 27 September 1868, two years before the fall of the regime he had served. He lies in Division 66, avenue Circulaire, first line, with his son Count Charles Rodolphe Zanobi Walewski (1848-1916).
The grave
A family chapel, that of the Colonna Walewskis, whose pediment bears the arms of the house. Inside, a stained-glass window by an unknown maker is adorned with a crowned W. The count rests there with his son, Count Charles Rodolphe Zanobi Walewski (1848-1916), an officer. Nothing outside signals the imperial parentage: it is a Polish tomb, not a Napoleonic monument.
On site, do not miss
Look for the crowned W in the stained glass: the letter of a Polish family, beneath a crown, in a chapel that shelters a son of Napoleon.
Visitors' questions
Where is Alexandre Walewski's grave?
In Division 66, avenue Circulaire, first row: a family chapel bearing the arms of the Colonna Walewski. The Division is also that of Georges Seurat, Jules Vallès and the opera singer Marietta Alboni.
Marietta AlboniWas Alexandre Walewski Napoleon's son?
He was, his natural son, born in 1810 to the Polish countess Maria Walewska. The parentage was never recognised in law. His mother is buried in Poland; only her heart rests at Père-Lachaise, in Division 67.
Louis Blanc, Division 67What political role did Alexandre Walewski play?
As Foreign Minister of the Second Empire, he presided in 1856 over the Congress of Paris that closed the Crimean War. A senator, he succeeded the Duke of Morny as president of the Legislative Body after the latter's death in 1865.
Charles de MornyWhat can be seen on the Walewski chapel?
The family arms on the pediment and, inside, a stained-glass window bearing a crowned W. The count rests there with his son Charles Rodolphe Zanobi Walewski (1848-1916), an officer. Nothing outside points to the imperial parentage of the man within.
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