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Karl Wilhelm Naundorff Biography |
Karl Wilhelm Naundorff (1785? - August 10, 1845) was a German clock and watch maker who until his death claimed to be Prince Louis-Charles, the son of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, who was imprisoned during the French Revolution and believed to have died in prison. Naundorff was one of the more stubborn of the numerous persons who claimed to be Louis, spirited away from the Temple Prison by monarchist sympathisers, even managing to convince Louis' childhood nurse of his claim. He was buried with the epitaph "Here lies Louis XVII, King of France" upon his grave.
However, in 1950, a strand of hair and two fragments of bone were taken from his grave and their DNA compared by geneticists to Marie Antoinette and other members of her family. They did not match, thus proving that he was an impostor. |
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