See Also: Eugenie(encyclopedia)
Beauharnais, (Eugenie-) Hortense de(encyclopedia)

Eugenie (sh)




orig. Eugenia Maria de Montijo de Guzman

born May 5, 1826, Granada, Spain
died July 11, 1920, Madrid

Wife of Napoleon III and empress of France (1853-70).

Daughter of a Spanish noble, she married Napoleon III in 1853 and came to have an important influence on her husband's foreign policy. As a devoted Roman Catholic, she favored a strong papacy and supported Ultramontane causes. She also encouraged French opposition to a Prussian candidate for the Spanish throne in the controversy that precipitated the Franco-Prussian War. After the French defeat at Sedan, she joined her family in exile in England.