Beauharnais, Alexandre, viscount de

Beauharnais, Alexandre, viscount de

(born May 28, 1760, Martinique—died June 23, 1794, Paris, France) French politician and general, first husband of Joséphine. A liberal noble, he became a prominent figure during the French Revolution. He presided over the Constituent Assembly in 1791, served with gallantry in the army, and was named general in chief of the Army of the Rhine in 1793. He was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, largely because he was a noble. He was the father of Eugène and Hortense de Beauharnais and the grandfather of Napoleon III.