Marie de Vichy-Chamron , marquise Dudeffan , also du Deffan ( fr. Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand ; September 25, 1697 , Ligny-en-Brionne , Ligny-en-Brionnais, Burgundy - August 23, 1780 , Paris ) - French correspondent for Voltaire and other writers of the 18th century, the mistress of the brilliant Parisian salon of philosophers. The letters showed great intelligence and independence of judgment [1] .
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Content
- 1 Biography
- 2 Editions
- 3 See also
- 4 notes
- 5 Links
Biography
Already a pupil of the monastery, she astounded others with a rare mind and early awakened skepticism . Having married the Marquis du Deffin (1718), she soon left him (1722) and began to lead a noisy social life full of romance adventures. [2] Among her lovers was Charles Hainaut , a rich man, the president of the Paris Parliament and an approximate queen, who introduced her to the circle of the Duchess of Mans , where moral freedom reigned, and where she met Voltaire . Since 1742, they began a friendly correspondence.
After the death of her husband, Dudeffan rented an apartment in Paris on Saint-Dominique ( Fr. ), in the monastery building (couvent des Filles de Saint-Joseph), the apartment had a separate entrance from the street. Every evening she held dinner parties, and on Mondays (from 1749) - a home salon , whose regular visitors were Voltaire, d'Alembert , Buffon and others. A wonderful interlocutor, responsive to all the questions that worried society at that time, the Marquise Dudeffan was the soul of this brilliant salon. The fiery love of Horace Walpole - “un incendie dans ses cheveux blancs”, as expressed by Barbe d'Oreville — represents the most original incident in the life of the Marquise Dudeffan. She conducted extensive correspondence with Voltaire, encyclopedists, Walpole and others. Dudeffan's letters reveal a subtle, observant mind and great independence of thought, thanks to which it did not fall under the unconditional influence of the encyclopedists , but, on the contrary, impartially criticized the thinkers of its time, not excluding Voltaire. [2]
56 years old, she was blinded (1754). Her niece Julie de Lespinas became her lectrix [3] and gradually became the center of male attention in the salon. Since 1758, a new period began in her life, marked by a break with Mademoiselle Lespinas (1764) and most encyclopedists. [2]
The Marquise Dudeffan died in Paris in August 1780.
Editions
Her correspondence:
- with d'Alembert, Hainaut, Montesquieu and others (Paris, 1804);
- letters to Walpole and to Voltaire (London, 1810; P., 1811-12 and 1827);
- Correspondance inédite de m-me du Deffand (P., 1859) - letters to the Duchess of Choiseul (Louise Honorine Crozat, 1737-1801), Choiseul’s wife;
- Correspondance complète 1865.
See also
- Mistresses of literary salons
Notes
- ↑ Dudeffan // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. 1907-1909.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Dudeffan, Maria // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ Lectris (French: lectrice) (outdated) - a woman professionally engaged in reading aloud, a reader. // Explanatory dictionary of Ushakov
Links
- Vengerova Z. A. Dudeffan, Maria // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Dudeffan // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. 1907-1909.