Figurine Napoleon Au SacreNapoleon Bonaparte (1769 1821) was the first "Emperor of the French". A general in the army under the First Republic, he came to power through the coup d'tat of 18 Brumaire 1799, became First Consul in 1802, and Emperor in 1804. He died, deposed and exiled on Saint Helena, on May 5, 1821. A despot, he nevertheless durably modernized and organized French society and the state.