But when the French quickly overwhelmed local resistance fighters, Carlo began collaborating with them.Īt age 9, Napoleone, nicknamed Nabulio, was sent to school in mainland France, where he learned to speak fluent French. Like many Corsicans, his parents, Carlo Maria di Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, opposed both Genoese and French rule. Napoleone di Buonaparte was born on Corsica on August 15, 1769, just 15 months after France had purchased the island from the Italian city-state of Genoa.
