Start hereNapoleon's hair carried high levels of arsenic. Yet pathologists who re-read his autopsy reports concluded he died of stomach cancer. How can both be true?
Napoleon’s last years were spent on two islands. He left the first, Elba, after about ten months and marched back to Paris. He died on the second, St Helena. This page follows him from one island to the other, then looks at his last words, the autopsy and the arsenic theory.
1. Elba: a small state of his own
He abdicated unconditionally by 6 April 1814 and was sent into exile on the island of Elba. Elba is a small island, 28 kilometres by 19, in the Tyrrhenian Sea facing Piombino in Tuscany.
The Treaty of Fontainebleau gave him ownership and sovereignty of the island. He also kept the title of Emperor.
The arrival date differs by a day, depending on what is counted. The Fondation Napoléon’s chronology of his letters says his ship reached Portoferraio on 3 May 1814, and he went ashore on 4 May. Its page on Elba gives 4 May 1814 for his landing at Portoferraio, the capital. We lean on the Fondation Napoléon’s pages throughout.
2. The return: the Hundred Days
He did not stay. The British commissioner on Elba, Colonel Campbell, left the island on 16 February 1815 for a few days in Florence. Napoleon left Elba on 26 February 1815 aboard the Inconstant.
He boarded around seven in the evening and sailed two hours later with six other ships. The Inconstant alone could not carry the thousand or so men, the food and the horses his plan needed.
On 1 March 1815 he landed at Golfe-Juan. On 7 March, at Laffrey, the royalist soldiers facing him left their ranks and joined him on the road to Grenoble. On 20 March he took back the Tuileries palace, which Louis XVIII had left the day before.
This return is remembered as the Hundred Days. He invaded Belgium with 130,000 soldiers and beat Blücher’s Prussians at Ligny on 16 June. On 18 June 1815 he was defeated at Waterloo by the British and Prussian allied armies.
Back in Paris, he abdicated on 22 June in favour of his four-year-old son. Our page of checked facts about Napoleon covers the wider story.
3. Surrender and the voyage
He reached Rochefort on 3 July, planning to sail for the United States. The passport promised by the French provisional government never came.
So he crossed to the small island of Aix and put himself in the hands of the British navy. The Fondation gives his words as “I have come to put myself under the protection of your prince and your laws”. He surrendered to British forces on 14 July.
At Plymouth, on 31 July, he learned he was to be exiled to St Helena, a small island under British rule in the middle of the Atlantic. He boarded the Northumberland on 7 August and left British waters on 9 August, never having set foot on British soil. The voyage took nine weeks.
When did he arrive?
You will see two dates.
- The Fondation’s page on the road from Waterloo to St Helena says he arrived at St Helena on 15 October 1815.
- Its timeline of the Consulate and Empire says he landed on 17 October 1815.
- Its chronology of his letters gives both: the Northumberland anchored off Jamestown on 15 October, and Napoleon went ashore on 17 October.
So the ship arrived first, and he stepped ashore two days later.
4. Life at Longwood
Who went with him
The count differs here too.
- The Fondation’s page on the road from Waterloo to St Helena says twenty people followed him into exile. It names the Bertrand and Montholon families with their children, General Gourgaud, Count Las Cases and his son, and his servants.
- Its timeline lists Bertrand, Montholon and their wives, Las Cases and his young son, General Gourgaud and ten servants.
Our reading: the counts differ because the lists count wives, children and servants differently. If you need a number, say whose list it comes from.
The house
He first stayed at the Briars, the house of the Balcombe family. He moved into Longwood on 10 December 1815. Longwood was originally a barn, with damp and dark rooms. It stands in the east of the island, which is windswept and has little vegetation.
His days
His days were organised around meals, horse riding and dictating his memoirs to his companions. He brought over 600 books, and by his death his library held over 3,000.
He was closely watched. He could walk freely only within a limited area, supervised by British soldiers, and his letters were opened before he could read them. The Fondation describes the island as “well guarded by three thousand men, and four vessels constantly surveyed its coastline to prevent any landing”.
The circle around him shrank. Las Cases and his son were expelled in December 1816 for trying to smuggle out letters. General Gourgaud left in 1818, and Madame de Montholon in 1819.
5. His will
In mid-April 1821, feeling his strength decline, he dictated his will to Montholon. On 15 April he copied it out in his own hand, as French law required when there was no notary.
Its most quoted line is a wish about where he would lie. It reads: “It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well”. Here ashes is an old word for a person’s mortal remains, not a request for cremation.
Another line blames Britain: “I die prematurely, assassinated by the English oligarchy and its assassin”.
She adds that he “unwittingly fuelled the fanciful claim” that he had been poisoned with small doses of arsenic. Our reading: the word “assassinated” comes from Napoleon himself, in a political document. Prévot reads it as being about his imprisonment, not poison.
6. The last days and his last words
As his health failed, according to his surgeon Antommarchi, he slept more than twelve hours a day and rarely left his bed. On 3 May, by Bertrand’s account, with all the British doctors in agreement, he was given 10 grains of calomel. Montholon’s memoirs put a strong dose of calomel on the morning of 4 May.
Calomel is mercurous chloride, used as a purgative.
Napoleon died on 5 May 1821 at 5.49 pm, at the age of fifty-one. Bertrand noted that sixteen people were present, twelve of them French.
What did he say? The people at his bedside wrote down different broken phrases.
- General Charles de Montholon, who shared his exile, thought he heard “France — armée, tête d’armée — Joséphine” in the early hours of 5 May.
- General Henri Bertrand’s journal records “at the head of the army” in the same night.
In English, Montholon’s words are France, army, head of the army, Joséphine. The two witnesses are not equally trusted. The Fondation Napoléon describes Montholon’s memoirs as “untrustworthy”. Bertrand’s memoirs of the exile were not published until 1949. The Fondation’s Peter Hicks calls Bertrand “scrupulously honest”.
Both accounts mention the army. The Fondation’s own timeline says his final words were of Josephine and the army. None of the versions is a full sentence. Our page on the “nothing we can do” meme explains why that famous line is not among them.
7. What the autopsy found
The autopsy took place on 6 May 1821 at 2 p.m. at Longwood House, with a French and a British group present. Antommarchi performed it, assisted by seven British doctors.
A 2007 study placed the illness at no less than stage IIIA stomach cancer, with a tumour more than 10 cm long. It suggested his main risk factor might have been a Helicobacter pylori infection rather than a family tendency.
For the bicentenary in 2021, an international group of gastrointestinal pathologists re-read the autopsy reports. Their conclusion: “advanced malignant gastric neoplasia associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding as cause of death”. In plain words, an advanced stomach cancer that was bleeding.
8. The arsenic theory
Where it started
In 1961 a paper in Nature by Forshufvud, Smith and Wassén reported the arsenic content of hair “probably taken immediately after his death”. The level was high enough to suggest arsenic poisoning. Since then, high arsenic in his hair has been found by various methods.
| Year | Study | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Forshufvud, Smith and Wassén | Arsenic in hair taken just after his death |
| 1982 | Lewin, Hancock and Voynovich | No evidence of chronic arsenic poisoning |
| 1999 | Weider and Fournier | Argued he was deliberately poisoned |
| 2002 | Kintz and colleagues | A new series of hair analyses confirmed chronic exposure to arsenic |
| 2004 | Lin, Alber and Henkelmann | Hair cut on Elba in 1814 was high in arsenic too |
| 2007 | Kintz and colleagues | More than 97% of the arsenic was inorganic |
| 2008 | Clemenza and colleagues | High arsenic in his childhood hair, his son’s and Joséphine’s |
| 2026 | Charlier and colleagues | No sign of an arsenic health risk in sediment where he lived, except at the Briars |
The case for poisoning
Weider, of the International Napoleonic Society, and Fournier argued that arsenic was given over time to weaken him, so that his decline would look like a natural illness. In their account, calomel and orgeat, a drink flavoured with oil of bitter almonds, “formed mercury cyanide, which is lethal”.
The case against
- Lin and colleagues tested hair cut the day after his death and hair cut seven years earlier on Elba; all of it had elevated arsenic. They wrote: “These results disfavor the arsenic poisoning theory”.
- The 2021 pathologists say the 2008 study of his childhood hair, and of his son’s and Joséphine’s, “finally dismissed” the poisoning hypothesis. We could not open the 2008 paper itself.
- Kintz and colleagues found that over 97% of the arsenic in two samples was inorganic, which they call “consistent with a chronic intoxication to arsenic”. Our reading: that shows he was exposed to arsenic over time. It does not show who or what exposed him.
- A 2026 study of 20 sediment samples from the places he lived found no sign of a health risk from arsenic, except at the Briars. The authors think the Briars samples may come from a more recent rubbish zone. It did find possible lead and manganese exposure, mainly from the water pipes to Longwood.
What is still argued
Nobody in the recent reviews we read argues for murder. The open question is how large a part toxic substances played.
- A 2021 systematic review by Marchetti, Cittadini and De Giovanni classified the death as “unnatural”. In their reading, toxic substances, possibly from medicines containing antimony, mercury or arsenic, may have set off or worsened an underlying disease, which could be stomach cancer. They add that this “does not imply criminal intent”.
- A 2004 paper by Mari and colleagues found that the autopsy findings fit only stomach cancer. But it proposed that the immediate cause was a heart-rhythm disorder, brought on by arsenic exposure and a medication error.
- The 2021 pathologists disagree. They note that his health had been declining since October 1820, in line with the cancer’s progress.
Holds up His hair held high levels of arsenic. A 2021 review found that none of the papers it covered denied the toxic findings in his hair. Hair cut years before St Helena was high in arsenic too.
Holds up The autopsy found a cancerous stomach. The 2021 pathologists say the reports allow a final diagnosis.
Still argued Toxic substances played a primary part in his death. One 2021 review classes the death as “unnatural”, with toxic substances that may have set off or worsened the disease. The 2021 pathologists judge an unnatural component unlikely: the cancer caused the bleeding, and the calomel was “just a trigger”.
Our reading: stomach cancer is the leading explanation. How large a part toxic substances played is still argued. The 1999 paper argues for deliberate poisoning; the recent reviews we read do not support it.
9. Burial and the return to Paris
He had told Bertrand he wanted to be buried near the spring that gave him water on the island. He was buried in a valley close to Longwood.
Most sources we checked give 9 May 1821. Montholon’s memoirs print the official record of the interment, dated “May the ninth”. The Fondation’s chronology of his letters gives 9 May, and a print of the funeral procession, made in 1832 and now held by the Musée de l’Armée, is titled “Sainte-Hélène 9 Mai 1821”. The Musée de l’Armée also dates the funeral cortège to 9 May, and the St Helena Government says he was buried at Sane Valley on 9 May 1821.
One Fondation page for young readers gives 10 May, so you may see that date too.
The tombstone carried no inscription, because the British would not allow the name Napoleon to be engraved. Bertrand petitioned the British government and Louis XVIII, but the body stayed on St Helena for another 20 years.
The change came under King Louis-Philippe. In a letter of 9 May 1840, Palmerston agreed that the body could return to France. The king’s son, the Prince de Joinville, escorted the remains. The coffin reached the Invalides in Paris on 15 December 1840, after more than 7,200 km.
His coffin lay in a chapel at the Invalides for about twenty more years, until his tomb under the Dome was finished. A simple ceremony took place on 2 April 1861. The return of 1840 is known in French as the Retour des Cendres, “the return of the ashes”.
10. What you can take from it
- When witnesses disagree, ask who wrote it down and when. Montholon’s memoirs were published in 1846–47, and the Fondation calls them untrustworthy. Hicks describes Bertrand’s text as the version from inside Longwood, close to Napoleon.
- Check the plain explanation’s evidence before the dramatic one. The arsenic in 1821 was real. What it meant changed once hair from 1814 and from his childhood was tested.
- Treat one test as a clue, not a verdict. A single hair result can show exposure. It cannot show intent. Our guide on how to read a study has nine questions for this.
- Read the documents yourself. The will, and a day-by-day timeline based on Bertrand’s notebooks, are online in English on the Fondation’s site.
Where to read more
- The will. The Fondation Napoléon’s full English transcription, with Chantal Prévot’s introduction.
- The last days. A day-by-day timeline of March to May 1821, based on Bertrand’s notebooks, on the Fondation’s site.
- Which memoirs to trust. Peter Hicks’s “Four, for the gospel makers”, on the main St Helena memoirs.
- The medical evidence. The 2021 pathologists’ report is open access, and the 2021 systematic review has a public abstract.
Quick answers
When and where did Napoleon die?
On St Helena, on 5 May 1821 at 5.49 pm, at the age of fifty-one. Bertrand noted that sixteen people were present, twelve of them French.
What were Napoleon's last words?
The people at his bedside wrote down different broken phrases. Montholon thought he heard "France — armée, tête d'armée — Joséphine", and Bertrand's journal records "at the head of the army". The Fondation Napoléon describes Montholon's memoirs as "untrustworthy".
Was Napoleon poisoned with arsenic?
His hair held high levels of arsenic, but so did hair cut on Elba in 1814. Pathologists in 2021 read the autopsy as advanced stomach cancer with bleeding. A 2021 review argues medicines may have played a part, and says this does not imply criminal intent.
When did Napoleon arrive on St Helena?
The Fondation Napoléon's chronology of his letters says the Northumberland anchored off Jamestown on 15 October 1815, and he went ashore on 17 October.
Where is Napoleon buried?
At the Invalides in Paris. His coffin arrived there on 15 December 1840, and a ceremony took place on 2 April 1861 once his tomb under the Dome was finished.
Use this
When a famous death comes with a dramatic story, check who recorded it and what older evidence shows.
- Ask who wrote each account down, and when it was published.
- Look for samples or records from before the event.
- Separate exposure from intent before you repeat a murder story.
Who recorded this, when, and what did the evidence show before the dramatic part?
Quick quiz
Nothing is scored or saved. Recalling it once now is what makes it last.
1. When did Napoleon leave Elba?
Answer: 26 February 1815.Read it again ↑
2. Which word does the Fondation Napoléon use for Montholon's memoirs?
Answer: Untrustworthy.Read it again ↑
3. What did hair cut on Elba in 1814 show?
Answer: Elevated arsenic, like the hair cut after his death.Read it again ↑
How we checked this · Last checked October 2026
- The life on Elba and St Helena rests on the Fondation Napoléon's pages, several of them in French; the English wording of those is ours.
- Where the Fondation's own pages disagree (the St Helena arrival, the number of companions, the burial date), the page gives each version and says which page it comes from; for the burial, other sources settle it on 9 May.
- The last words use Montholon's 1847 English edition (vol. III, pp. 214–215, read as a scan) and Bertrand's notes through the Fondation's timeline, in the same wording as our page on the meme.
- For the medical papers we read the abstracts, and the full text of the 2021 pathologists' report. The 1961 and 1982 Nature papers, the 2002 hair study and the 2000 comment were read as titles only. We could not open the 2008 study of his childhood hair; it is described as the 2021 report describes it.
Sources
- Fondation Napoléon, From Waterloo to the island of St Helena (Joanna Benazet and Irène Delage, October 2015).Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Timeline: Consulate / First French Empire.Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Chronologie de la Correspondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte, tome 15 : Les chutes, 1814-1821 (in French).Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Île d’Elbe (in French).Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Février-juillet 1815 : d’une île à l’autre, les Cent-Jours (in French).Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Introduction to volume 15 of the Correspondance générale: Les chutes, 1814–1821.Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, Napoleon’s last will and testament (transcription, introduction by Chantal Prévot, February 2021).Primary
- Fondation Napoléon, Napoleon’s last days, March – May 1821, as seen through the eyes of the Grand Marshal Bertrand.Scholarly
- Charles-Tristan de Montholon, History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, vol. III (London: Henry Colburn, 1847), pp. 214–215, Internet Archive scan.Primary
- Fondation Napoléon, “Sainte-Hélène 9 Mai 1821” (Funeral procession with a key to people present) (image record).Scholarly
- Musée de l’Armée, The ultimate battle (exhibition “Napoleon at St Helena”).Scholarly
- St Helena Government, Commemoration of the death of Napoleon on St Helena (May 2021).Popular
- Fondation Napoléon, Who was present at Napoleon’s death?Scholarly
- Peter Hicks, Fondation Napoléon, “Four, for the gospel makers”: the eye-witness memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena.Scholarly
- Fondation Napoléon, The “Retour des Cendres”: Napoleon’s body is returned to Paris.Scholarly
- A. Lugli and colleagues, “The gastric disease of Napoleon Bonaparte: brief report for the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death on St. Helena in 1821”, Virchows Archiv 479, 2021 (open access).Scholarly
- A. Lugli and colleagues, “Napoleon Bonaparte’s gastric cancer: a clinicopathologic approach to staging, pathogenesis, and etiology”, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology 4(1), 2007.Scholarly
- S. Forshufvud, H. Smith and A. Wassén, “Arsenic content of Napoleon I’s hair probably taken immediately after his death”, Nature 192, 1961.Scholarly
- P. K. Lewin, R. G. Hancock and P. Voynovich, “Napoleon Bonaparte: no evidence of chronic arsenic poisoning”, Nature 299, 1982.Scholarly
- B. Weider and J. H. Fournier, “Activation analyses of authenticated hairs of Napoleon Bonaparte confirm arsenic poisoning”, American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 20(4), 1999.Scholarly
- X. Lin, D. Alber and R. Henkelmann, “Elemental contents in Napoleon’s hair cut before and after his death: did Napoleon die of arsenic poisoning?”, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 379(2), 2004.Scholarly
- F. Mari and colleagues, “Channelling the Emperor: what really killed Napoleon?”, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 97(8), 2004.Scholarly
- P. Kintz and colleagues, “Arsenic speciation of two specimens of Napoleon’s hair”, Forensic Science International 170(2–3), 2007.Scholarly
- P. F. Corso, J. T. Hindmarsh and F. D. Stritto, “The death of Napoleon”, American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 21(3), 2000.Scholarly
- P. Kintz and colleagues, “A new series of hair analyses from Napoleon confirms chronic exposure to arsenic”, Journal of Analytical Toxicology 26(8), 2002.Scholarly
- D. Marchetti, F. Cittadini and N. De Giovanni, “Did poisoning play a role in Napoleon’s death? A systematic review”, Clinical Toxicology 59(7), 2021.Scholarly
- P. Charlier and colleagues, “No evidence of significant natural environmental exposure to arsenic, but lead and manganese for Napoleon I on the island of Saint Helena (1815-1821)”, Annales Pharmaceutiques Françaises 84(5), 2026.Scholarly