New-York tribune., 1920-07-12
Former French Empress,
Widow of Napoleon iii,
Recently Regained Sight
by Notable Operation
Visiting 6 Nephew
At Time of Death
Forced to Flee From Paris
at Birth of Republic;
Befriended by Victoria

MADRID, July 1.-THE former En-
press Eugene of France, widow of
Napoleon III, died here this morning
She was ninety-four years old.
Death occurred shortly before 8
o'clock from acute intestinal inhamma-
tion. She passed away quiently in the
presence only of her lady-in- waiting.
Her nephew. the Duke of Alba, at
whose residence she died, was in
France.
Full imperial honors will be &C
corded at her funeral. Preparations
are under way for the opening of
Empress Eugenie's will. The only
member of the family now in Madrid is
niece.
Empress Eugenie recently underwent
an operation upon her eyes. She had
completely lost the sight Of one eye,
and it was feared the other would be-
come. blind, as all oculists who had at
tended her gave her no hope of regain
ing sight.
When the Duke of Alba visited her
this spring at her villa at Cap Martin
she expressed longing to return once
more to Spain before she went blind.
The duke, ascertaining from the doctor
that her health would permit the jour
ney, arranged the trip, and they left
Marseilles for Algeciras.
Regains Sight in Spain
After spending some time at her
nephew's home in Seville and having
visited the King and Queen Victoria,
the Empress, after spending two weeks
in the south, was induced by her
nephew to spend some time with him
at his home in Madrid, and it wa,
while there that the duke heard of the
wonderful cures effected by Spanish
oculist in Barcelona. He decided to
see what could be done about his aunt's
failing eyesight.
DR.. Barraquen arrived, and, after
several examinations, decided to oper-
ate upon both eyes. No surgical IN
strument was used, but cupping glass
was placed upon the eyes, and when
IN due time heAwithdrew it he said to
the Empress:
Your majesty is cured and will see
once more"
After two days of rest she was able
10 see and to recognize those around
her., She also was able to distinguish
small objects at a distance. Her intense
Joy and gratitude to the doctor were
indescribable. She said to him:
Thanks to you, | shall have been
born twice in Spain"
Many Years in Exile
With the death of the Empress En-
genie there closes chapter in history
almost unparalleled for the heights Of
Its Its glory and the depths of it's tragedy.
lhe sorrow of the lonely woman in
exile, bereft Of husband and son, was
respected through the many long years
OF her later life to such an extent that
much OF the history of nineteenth CEN
tury France has remained untold or
only partly told until this day. Legends
have grown up about her, and been dis
slpated only to give place to Others
She has been slandered, and been de-
tended with spirited chivalry; her part
in the downfall of France and the House
OF Bonaparte has been exaggerated and
denied, until gradually with the max
ing of new history she dropped into
semi-oblivion, from which she emerged
at long intervals in reports of her con-
stant wanderings.
The exact measure of the role she
played in the decisive events of the
story of the Second Empire-in Italian
in the bringing on of the war with Ger
many-will probably never be settled,
though no doubt memoirs kept back in
Difference to her may now be expected
to shed new light on dark places and
disputed problems.
Certain it is, however, that she was
fitted for throne in naught but beauty
and grace and in the unexpected hero
ism she displayed on the occasion of
Orsini's attempt and in the cholera
hospitals of Amiens in 1867: She tried
to play the most difficult game Of inter
politics, that of combining re-
ligion with policy of state, and failed.
She was too much of woman, more
over, and especially of an imperfectly
educated Spanish woman, to distinguish
between her personal likes and dislikes,
her feminine intuitions and the logic of
events. In Frances internal politics at
a critical period she blundered from one