Hester Lynch Piozzi (1740–1821)

Hester Lynch Piozzi, best known as Mrs. Thrale, was born in Bodvel, Caernarvonshire, Wales. She was educated in London and became skilled in numerous languages, including Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish.
In 1763, she married Henry Thrale, a brewer, with whom she had 12 children. She became a well-known London society hostess and a friend of Samuel Johnson, Fanny Burney, Oliver Goldsmith, David Garrick, Sarah Siddons, Edmund Burke, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, among others. Her close friendship with Dr. Johnson included long periods in which he lived with the Thrale family in their home.
After her first husband's death, she married Gabriel Mario Piozzi, an Italian singer and composer In 1786 she published Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., during the last Twenty Years of his Life. The following year, she published a two-volume edition of Letters to and from the Late Samuel Johnson. Her books, diaries, and letters serve as an important source of information about Johnson and 18th-century life.