The man on a remote island keeping Napoleon’s flame alive
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, between South America and Africa, lies the island of St. Helena.
Sitting 1,200 miles west of Windhoek, in Namibia, it’s one of the most remote places in the world: a 46 square mile island of dazzling cliff walks, breath-catching drives, and swirling flax plants rippling in the ocean-whipped wind.
With a population of under 5,000, sometimes it feels like there are more dolphins in the ocean around the island than Saints, as the islanders are called.
Yet despite its remoteness, St. Helena is known all over the world for its most famous visitor, who died there 200 years ago.
200 years: Remote St. Helena island marks Napoleon’s death with Catholic Mass
May 5, 2021 associated press
In this Oct. 15, 2017, file photo, several images of Napoleon Bonaparte are shown in this collection of framed pictures on a wall in the Consulate hotel in Jamestown on St. Helena island in the Atlantic Ocean. Commemorations of the May 5, 1821 death of Napoleon are going ahead on St. Helena, the remote South Atlantic island where the deposed French emperor died in exile. But they are not happening with an influx of international visitors that was expected before COVID-19 swept across the world. While the volcanic island has not had any confirmed COVID-19 cases, reaching it got even harder because of travel restrictions during the pandemic. (Credit: Christopher Torchia/AP.)
One of the many things Napoleon Bonaparte was famous for was taking long soaks in the bath, during which he read newspapers and held forth to his entourage. It was a habit he carried over to isolated but relatively comfortable exile, reinforced by his doctor recommending it as therapy for chronic skin rashes. Now, the copper bathtub he used in Saint-Helena, his remote island prison in the South Atlantic, is being put on show in perhaps the most.
Getting to the remote South Atlantic island where Napoleon died 200 years ago got even harder during the coronavirus pandemic. So while commemorations of the May 5, 1821 death of the deposed French emperor on British-ruled St Helena are going ahead there, they are not happening with an influx of international visitors that was expected before Covid-19 swept across the world. The volcanic island of about 4500 people has not had any confirmed Covid-19 cases, but “we are no longer expecting the cruise ship visitors nor regular air visitors″ and the Napoleon commemorations ″will be restricted to local events only,″ said Nicole Shamier, chief economist for St. Helena’s government.