Joseph Fesch [SEP] native language
Joseph Fesch
Joseph Fesch, Prince of France (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French cardinal and diplomat, Prince of France and a member of the Imperial House of the First French Empire, Peer of France, Roman Prince, and the uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was also one of the most famous art collectors of his period, remembered for having established the Musée Fesch in Ajaccio, which remains one of the most important Napoleonic collections of art.
Born in Corsica, he was the son
family were put to death by guillotine.
As a young man, he studied for the priesthood, along with St. John Vianney (Curé d'Ars). He was ordained a priest November 12, 1815 by Cardinal Joseph Fesch for the Archdiocese of Lyon. He soon became the superior of the seminary of Largentiere. In 1829 he left his native France for Mobile, Alabama. He served as vicar general for the Diocese of Mobile, rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and helped Bishop Michael Portier recruit priests to