Josephine was born in 1763 in Martinique to a wealthy aristocratic colonial family. She was brought up there but in 1779 she left for France and married army officer Alexandre de Beauharnais. She had two children with Alexandre, Eugene (1783 - 1824) and Hortense (1783 - 1837). In 1794 Alexandre was executed during the reign of terror and Josephine was briefly imprisoned until the fall of Robespierre. Shortly after her release she first met General Napoleon Bonaparte and the two soon became lovers. In March 1796 they were married.