Outsider

Aged nine, Napoleon left for school in France. He was an outsider, unversed in the customs and traditions of his new home.

Always destined for the military, Napoleon was educated first, briefly, at Autun, then five years in Brienne before a final year at the military academy in Paris. He graduated in September 1785 – ranked 42nd in a class of 58. It was while he was in Paris that Napoleon's father died, leaving the family facing financial hardship. Not yet 16, nor even the eldest son, it was nonetheless Napoleon who assumed responsibility as head of the family.