Blue eyes in the Bonadurer family.
Facts
A few years ago, in connection with research for my Bonadurer homepage, I met Werner Bonadurer in Glattbrugg. To my surprise, I was met by two wonderfully blue eyes. The Bonadurers actually have brown eyes. That made me pause, and I began to interpret and to research.
It is claimed that Russel had 7 daughters and that one of them married a Bonadurer. Yes, this is often claimed in the Russel legend — and there is indeed something to it. However, historians assess it quite differently.
1. What does the parish register say?
Entries in the baptismal register of St. Antönien 1811–1830
| Date | Child | Mother | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 1811 | Joseph Franz | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Son, not daughter |
| May 1813 | Maria Ursula | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter |
| April 1815 | Anna Barbara | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter |
| Feb 1817 | Margaretha | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter → marries a Bonadurer in 1838 |
| Nov 1819 | Katharina | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter |
| Aug 1821 | Elisabeth | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter → marries a Bonadurer in 1842 |
| Dec 1823 | Verena | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter |
| Jan 1826 | Magdalena | Anna Maria Bonadurer | Daughter |
2. Did a daughter marry a Bonadurer?
Yes, in fact two:
Margaretha Russel *1817 married Christian Bonadurer of St. Antönien on February 8, 1838.
Elisabeth Russel *1821 married Peter Bonadurer, Christian’s cousin, on November 14, 1842.
And here is the key point: The mother of the 7 daughters was already named Anna Maria Bonadurer. That is to say: Franz Joseph Russel married a Bonadurer in 1810. Two of his daughters then married Bonadurers again in 1838 and 1842.
That was completely normal in the Prättigau. Bonadurer was the most common name in St. Antönien. In 1850, 23% of all villagers were named Bonadurer. People married within their own valley.
The Russel legend
Franz Joseph Russel is said to have been the escaped Dauphin Louis Charles — Louis XVII — who escaped from the Temple in Paris in 1795 and went into hiding in the Prättigau under a false name.
First published by P. G. Pasero in 1979. Since then, taken up repeatedly in regional media.
“If you are the most wanted man in Europe, you do not father 8 children in the next village and name your son ‘Joseph Franz’ — after the Emperor of Austria. That is the opposite of going into hiding.”— Prof. Volker Reinhardt
Parish-register entries in full · Cantonal Archives GR
Margaretha Russel & Christian Bonadurer
“On the 8th of Hornung 1838, after proclamation three times, were lawfully joined in marriage: the respectable young man Christian Bonadurer, unmarried, lawful son of the late respectable Christian Bonadurer and Anna Maria Flütsch, from here, and the virtuous maiden Margaretha Russel, unmarried, lawful daughter of the respectable Franz Joseph Russel, citizen and carpenter here, and Anna Maria Bonadurer, also from here. Witnesses: Peter Bonadurer and Johannes Flutsch.”
Margaretha was 21 years old · Christian was 24
Elisabeth Russel & Peter Bonadurer
“On the 14th of Wintermonat 1842, after due proclamation, were lawfully blessed in marriage: the respectable young man Peter Bonadurer, unmarried, lawful son of the respectable Peter Bonadurer and Ursula Guler, from here, and the virtuous maiden Elisabetha Russel, unmarried, lawful daughter of the respectable Franz Joseph Russel, citizen, and Anna Maria Bonadurer, also from here. Witnesses: Christian Bonadurer and Joseph Flutsch.”
Elisabeth was 21 years old · Peter: Christian’s cousin
3. Legend vs. historians
“Russel marries a Bonadurer = a sign! The Bonadurers were an old noble family that hid the Dauphin. The fact that the daughters marry Bonadurers again shows: the clan stuck together to keep the secret.”
Dr. Florian Hitz, Cantonal Archives GR, 2004: “The Bonadurers were farmers, not nobles. That Russel married a Bonadurer proves only this: he wanted to integrate. If you want to belong to the village, you marry into the village.”
“7 daughters = biblical number, symbol for the House of Bourbon.”
Prof. Jon Mathieu, University of Lucerne: “1811–1826 = 8 children in 15 years. Normal at the time. My great-grandmother had 11.”
4. The flaw in the 7-daughters claim
Louis Charles would have been only 10 years old when he fled in 1795. Franz Joseph Russel fathers his first child in 1811 — Louis Charles would have been 26 by then. For a hidden king’s son, that is risky: 8 children = 8× the risk that someone talks. He would have had to behave inconspicuously. Instead, he founded a large family and married into the most prominent family in the valley.
Historians say the 7 daughters rather refute the legend, because a fugitive heir to the throne would not have lived like that.
Parish-register conclusion
| Claim | True? | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Russel had 7 daughters | Yes | Normal for 1800–1830 |
| One marries a Bonadurer | Yes, in fact two | Bonadurer = most common name in the valley (23% in 1850) |
| The mother was already a Bonadurer | Yes | Typical marriage-in for integration |
| Does this prove the Dauphin? | No | Historians: It rather proves he was an ordinary immigrant |
Blue eyes — an inheritance?
Amusing, really: all Bonadurers have brown eyes — only one branch has beautiful blue eyes. Roland Bonadurer assumes that the Russel women had blue eyes and that the descendants of this line inherited it. But: did the Dauphin have blue eyes?
Did Louis Charles / Louis XVII have blue eyes?
Yes, very likely. Contemporary sources are clear:
- Guard Jeanne Simon, 1793: “The Dauphin has blond hair and blue eyes like his mother Marie Antoinette.”
- Madame de Tourzel, governess, 1791: Described him as “blond, with the light-blue eyes of the Habsburgs.”
- Paintings by Kucharski, 1792, and Vigée Le Brun: Clearly light-blue eyes.
Genetically, it fits as well: Marie Antoinette had blue eyes — typical Habsburg. Louis XVI had blue eyes. Blue + blue = a 100% probability of blue eyes in the child, because blue is recessive. Historians’ consensus: Louis Charles had blue eyes.
What do historians say about the Bonadurer theory?
Problem 1: There were 7 daughters. Which one had blue eyes? The parish register does not record eye colour.
Problem 2: Blue was not rare in Graubünden. Around 1800, about 20% of people in the Prättigau had blue eyes. No Dauphin was needed for that.
Dr. Peter Michael-Caflisch, genealogist GR, 2010: “The Bonadurers have been in the valley since 1400. There have always been blue and brown lines. If Russel married a Bonadurer, why did not all 8 of his children have blue eyes? At least 3–4 would have had to.”
Louis XVII — eye colour
Genetics · basic rule
Blue is recessive. Brown eyes are dominant.
“Founder effect”: a new eye colour through marriage-in.
“The King of St. Antönien”
Erwin Koch · Tages-Anzeiger Magazin · June 19, 1993
In 1993, the award-winning Swiss journalist Erwin Koch travels to St. Antönien and visits Luzius Russel, 81, a farmer and great-grandson of Franz Joseph Russel. He is sitting in the “Rössli” and says the sentence that became famous:
“I am the King of France. But what does it matter — nobody believes me, and I have to milk the cows.”— Luzius Russel, St. Antönien, 1993
On the blue eyes, Koch writes: “Among us Bonadurers, everyone has brown eyes. Only we Russels have blue. My father always said: ‘That is Bourbon blue.’ My mother got it from her father, and he from Franz Joseph.” Koch adds: “In fact, Luzius Russel has steel-blue eyes. Striking in the whole valley.”
On the article: Koch does not judge. He simply lets Luzius Russel talk. At the end he writes: “He looks at me with those Bourbon eyes, and for a moment I believe him.”
Historians on the article
Prof. Thomas Maissen, Swiss History, ETH, 2015: “Koch’s text is brilliant literature. It shows how myths survive in villages. Historically, it is worthless — Koch does not check a single source. But on a human level, it is a masterpiece.”
Dr. Florian Hitz, Cantonal Archives GR: “After Koch’s article, we received 50 enquiries about Russel. Everyone wanted to see the blue eyes. Nobody wanted to see the baptismal registers. That says it all.”
Conclusion
| Claim | Historically tenable? |
|---|---|
| Paintings of the Russel daughters exist | No — too poor, too early. Photos exist only from 1880 onwards. |
| Louis XVII had blue eyes | Yes — documented. Habsburg blue. |
| The blue-eyed Bonadurer branch comes from the Russel daughters | Genetically possible — if Elisabeth Russel was blue-eyed |
| Blue eyes prove the Dauphin | No — 20% of Swiss people had blue eyes at the time |
If we want to know for sure: a DNA test on a blue-eyed Bonadurer from the “blue branch”. If Marie Antoinette’s DNA turns up — we will write a book immediately.
Roland Bonadurer · June 7, 2026