He was Corsican which was part of the Republic of Genoa for a long time.
He was hardly French when he first started
Had to learn the language
Yep. I’ve been to his birthplace in Ajaccio, Corsica. The revolutionary/separatist spirit was still very evident there.
Origin of the name Napoleon
Naturally, its etymology has been studied extensively. The hypothesis favoured by specialists is that “Napoleon” came from the Italian “Nevoleone”, itself from “Neapolis” (Naples) and “leone” (lion).
“He was Corsican which was part of the Republic of Genoa for a long time.”
Andrew Robert’s biography of Napolean says that the Buonaparte family originally came from Italy. IIRC they had lived there for a few hundred years by the time of Napolean’s birth. Corsica didn’t become part of France until 1768.