François Pascal Simon Gérard, titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a prominent French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was Italian. After he was made a baron of the Empire in 1809 by Emperor Napoleon, he was known formally as Baron Gérard.

Maria-Letizia Bonaparte, known as Letizia Bonaparte, was a Corsican noblewoman and the mother of Napoleon I of France. She received the title "Madame Mère" due to her status as the Emperor's mother.