napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 , in Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. he was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Buonaparte , a lawyer , and Letizia Romalino Buonaparte. although his parents were members of the minor Corsican nobility, the family was not wealthy. the year before Napoleon's birth, France acquired Corsica from the city-state of Genoa, Italy. Napoleon later adopted a French spelling of of his last name