Napoleon I, who served as Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, held that title through a reign that was briefly restored during the Hundred Days in 1815. He worked as a military officer, military leader, and politician, and was a French citizen who used both the French and Corsican languages.

Born in Ajaccio in 1769, Napoleon was educated at the École Militaire, which grounded him in the military profession he would carry forward throughout his life. Alongside his roles as soldier and statesman, he was also an art collector — a dimension of his character that sat alongside his more prominent public functions. He rose to take the regnal name Napoleon I, the formal title by which he came to be known during his years as emperor.

Napoleon died on 5 May 1821 at Longwood House. He had been born on 15 August 1769 and lived fifty-one years, moving from a childhood in Ajaccio through military education to an imperial throne. The regnal name Napoleon I, formally attached to his period of rule, marks the span between his accession on 18 May 1804 and the first abdication in 1814, with the brief interruption of the Hundred Days in 1815 representing the final chapter of his time in power before his death at Longwood House.