Géraud Christophe Michel Duroc (; born du Roc; 25 October 1772 – 23 May 1813), Duke of Frioul, was a French general and diplomat who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte, who appointed him as the first Grand marshal of the palace, the head of the Emperor's military household. He is sometimes referred to as ‘Napoleon's shadow’ (l'ombre de Napoléon in French).

Early life and education

Duroc was born in Pont-à-Mousson on 25 October 1772, to a family of the noblesse de robe from Gévaudan. His father, Claude du Roc, was a former captain of the dragoons who had retired to Pont-à-Mousson due to hearing loss. Duroc entered the local military school in 1781, where he studied for eight years. He then entered the School of Artillery of Châlons as a second lieutenant, in March 1792. Around this time, he removed the nobiliary particle de from his surname (changing it to Duroc), in the context of the French Revolution. which Napoleon witnessed. Whilst Duroc lay dying inside a farmhouse, he requested Napoleon's presence where he apologised to the Emperor for not being able to serve him further, asked him to be a father to his daughter, and then requested him to withdraw so that he was not present at the moment of death. Alternatively, Napoleon claimed in later life that "when his bowels were falling out before my eyes, he repeatedly cried to me to have him put out of his misery. I told him: 'I feel pity for you, my friend, but there is no remedy but to suffer till the end.'" Napoleon bought the farm and erected a monument to his memory.

Legacy

thumb|left|Monument to General Duroc near the place of his death in battle, in [[Markersdorf, Germany]]

Duroc's remains were moved in 1847 to be buried in the Hôtel des Invalides, in Paris. His name is inscribed on the Eastern pillar of the Arc de Triomphe, on column 15.

The metro station Duroc of the Paris Métro is named after him.

References

  • - which names as chief source for Durocs biography the Moniteur Universel (French official state periodical - 31 May 1797, 24 October 1798, 30 May 1813, &c.).
  • Heraldica.org - Napoleonic heraldry.
  • An Historical Inquiry into the Principal Circumstances and Events relative to the late Emperor Napoleon in which are investigated The Charges Brought against the Government and conduct of that Eminent Individual, by Barclay Mounteney, Effingham Wilson, London, 1824, pg 168