Henriette Marie Françoise L'Hardy (9 December 1768– 27 January 1808) was the lady's companion from the Principality of Neuchâtel of the countess

Sophie von Dönhoff Countess Sophie Friederike Juliane von Dönhoff (17 October 1768 – 28 January 1838) was a German lady-in-waiting and a morganatic spouse by bigamy to King Frederick William II of Prussia. Early life She was the daughter of Count Friedrich ...

, the Prussian

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

and a morganatic spouse by

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

to King Frederick William II of Prussia. She made a self-portrait. L'Hardy, born in Auvernier, was the eldest daughter of the officer in the French military François Nicolas L'Hardy (1715-1788) and Marie Henriette Rossel (1744-1821). She was a friend of Isabelle de Charrière since August 1791, with whom she exchanged over 240 letters and whose letters and manuscripts she inherited. In her letters Isabelle de Charrière called her often ''Lucinde'' after the heroine of Moliere's farce

Le Médecin malgré lui ''Le Médecin malgré lui'' (; "The doctor/physician in spite of himself") is a farce by Molière first presented in 1666 (published as a manuscript in early 1667) at le théâtre du Palais-Royal by la Troupe du Roi. The play is one of sever ...

. She was the lady's companion of

in Prussia:

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Charlottenburg and Sanssouci since September 1791. In June 1792 they went together with the son

Friedrich Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...

(born 24 January 1792) to the

Principality of Neuchâtel A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

starting in Auvernier. On 16 June, Von Dönhoff visited Isabelle de Charrière in Colombier and a correspondence between the two of them began. In

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

Von Dönhoff gave birth to her daughter Julie on 4 January 1793. From April till 27 September 1793 Von Dönhoff and L'Hardy stayed in Baar. After that Von Dönhoff returned with her children to Prussia. When she was settled in Angermünde she asked L'Hardy to join her again 23 August 1794. She stayed there till the end of August 1795 and returned to Auvernier. Her memories of the time at the Prussian court L'Hardy wrote with assistance of De Charrière in 1801 ''Mes souvenirs sur Berlin, Potsdam et Sanssouci.'' after the publication of

Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur (10 December 175327 August 1830) was a French diplomat and historian. Biography Ségur was born in Paris, the son of Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur and Louise Anne Madeleine de Vernon. He entered the army in 176 ...

in 1800 'Histoire des principaux évènements du règne de Fréderic-Guillaume II'. The last days of Isabelle de Charrière life she kept watch over her with

Therese Forster Marie Therese Forster (10 August 1786 – 3 June 1862) was a German educator, writer, correspondent and editor. Born in Vilnius in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to Georg Forster and his wife Therese Huber, Therese, she spent her early ch ...

until her death on the morning of 27 December 1805. She married the historian Louis-Henri-Eusèbe Gaullieur on 16 September 1806.Profile
in the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''. The couple had a son, Eusèbe-Henri born 21 January 1808, later a historian as well, but she died soon after his birth in Auvernier. A self-portrait, described in various sources as a

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

or as an oil on canvas painting, still exists in a private collection.Black and white image of her self-portrait
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Hardy, Henriette 1768 births 1808 deaths People from the Principality of Neuchâtel