Madame de Staël (1766–1817)

Madame de Staël, née Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker was born in Paris, France, a daughter of Jacques Necker, King Louis XVI's Minister of Finance. Her mother Suzanne Curchod Necker was a famous salonnière and published author whose circle included Edward Gibbon and Denis Diderot. In 1786, she was married to Baron Erik Magnus de Staël, a Swedish diplomat and politician. As the Swedish ambassador, Madame de Staël's husband had political immunity during the early years of the French Revolution, enabling her to remain in France and help others to flee. Then in 1792, she herself was forced to flee to Switzerland. On returning in May 1797, she established her own salon and became a leader of progressive politics and intellectual life in Paris. She was known as a brilliant conversationalist and the epitome of European culture. Her writings included novels, plays, poems, moral and political essays, literary criticism, history, and memoirs. Her work was highly influential in establishing the Romantic movement. She was an open opponent of the rule of the Emperor Napoleon, and he ordered her into exile in 1802. She returned again to Paris in 1814 after he was defeated.