Empress Josephine at The Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris

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Joséphine de Beauharnais (née Tascher de la Pagerie; June 23, 1763 - May 29, 1814) was Napoleon I's first wife and the first Empress of France. Her marriage to Napoleon I was her second; she had previously married Alexandre de Beauharnais, who was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she herself was imprisoned in Carmes prison until five days after Alexandre's execution. Her two children by Alexandre became significant figures in royal lineage. Through her daughter Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoleon III. Through her son Eugène, she was the great-grandmother of later Swedish and Danish kings and queens. The reigning houses of Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg also descended from her. She did not bear Napoleon any children; as a result, he divorced her in 1810 to marry Marie Louise of Austria. Joséphine received numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist. Her Château de Malmaison was noted for its magnificent rose garden, which she supervised closely due to her passionate interest in roses, collected from all over the world.