Caroline Elizabeth Weber (born 1969) is an American author and fashion historian. She is a professor of French and Comparative Literature at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

within

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Her book ''Proust's Duchess'' was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Early life and education

Weber was born in 1969. She received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in literature ( summa cum laude) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and her PhD in French literature from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Career

After earning her PhD, Weber joined the faculty at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

as an Assistant Professor of Romance Languages. While at the University of Pennsylvania, she authored ''Terror and its Discontents: Suspect Words and the French Revolution'' and co-edited ''Fragments of Revolution'' with Howard G. Lay. After seven years at the University of Pennsylvania, Weber joined the faculty at

as a professor of French and Comparative Literature. While there, her book ''Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the French Revolution'' was published in 2007 and described Antoinette's life starting from her arrival from Austria into France. The biographical novel focused on Antoinette's control over her image through her autonomy of fashion. While conducting research for her book ''Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris'', Weber discovered one unknown and one lost essay by Marcel Proust about Parisian high society. As she was sifting through

Élisabeth Greffulhe Countess Marie Anatole Louise Élisabeth Greffulhe (''née'' de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay; 11 July 1860 – 21 August 1952) was a French socialite, known as a renowned beauty and queen of the ''salons'' of the ''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' in Paris ...

's personal archive, Weber discovered an unfinished and unpublished essay by Proust from 1902–03 titled "The Salon of the Comtesse Greffulhe." Greffulhe's husband had ordered her to not publish the essay for its vulgar contents, which she agreed to in fear of being beaten. Weber used these essays to trace the lives of three high-society female models for the Duchesse de Guermantes, from childhood to adulthood, in '' In Search of Lost Time'', Proust's novel in seven volumes. Upon publishing the book, Weber was named a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and received the 2019

French Heritage Society French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

Literary Award.

Personal life

Weber is married to economist Paul Romer. Their wedding occurred in 2018, the morning Romer accepted his

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Caroline Living people 1969 births 21st-century American historians 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women historians American women non-fiction writers Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard College alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty Barnard College faculty 21st-century American women writers