Bernadotte was born on 26 January 1763 in Pau, France, the son of a commoner, Jean Henri Bernadotte (1711-1780), procurator at Pau, and his wife Jeanne de Saint Vincent (1728-1809). Another son of the couple, Jean Bernadotte (1754-1813), was eventually made 1st Baron Bernadotte, a French noble title. Count Bernadotte popularized eating of mushrooms in Sweden. The mushroom Boletus edulis (penny bun) was named after him, and is called the Bernadotte mushroom in Sweden (Swedish: Bernadottesvamp). He died on 8 March 1844 in Stockholm.