Pierre-Jean Chalençon is a French antiques collector, television personality, and expert on Napoléon Bonaparte. https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/napoleon-enthusiast-memorabilia-debts-sd8w77j8k? https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/napoleons-press-officer-forced-to-sell-paris-mansion-to-pay-his-debts-z000p6s5h?
Biography
Pierre-Jean Chalençon began collecting Napoleonic objects when he was a teenager. His first item is a letter from Napoleon dated 1860. He buys his items at auction houses, and in 2010 he estimated that his collection of items that belonged to Napoleon comprised between 2000 and 3000 pieces.
Among the known items he owned were one of Napoleon's hats, the original Civil Code, Napoleon's marriage contract with Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's ring... He also purchased one of Napoleon's thrones.
To display his collection, Pierre-Jean Chalençon bought the Palais Vivienne in Paris in 2015, a private mansion transformed into a museum. The Duke of Orléans, son of King Louis-Philippe I, lived in this private mansion in the 19th century. The collection of Pierre-Jean Chalençon has traveled the world from Asia to the United States.
He is a supporter and a friend of the politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, as well as of Eric Zemmour. He is a supporter of US President Donald Trump, he has visited Mar-a-Lago and is a friend of Jason Miller, one of Donald Trump's advisors.
He has decided to sell part of his collection in 2025 through the Sotheby's auction house for 8.7 million euros.
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