a. Corsica
Napoleon was born on Aug. 15, 1769.
Although he is regarded by posterity as the quintessential Frenchman, Napoleon also has deep ties to Italy.
His family emigrated to Corsica from the Italian region of Genoa. And Corsica itself was controlled by Italy for centuries until just before Napoleon was born, when France took over.
But even after the switch in power, Italian cultural influences remained strong on the island. In fact, the first language that Napoleon learned was Italian. And even after learning French, he could never shake his strong native accent.
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