Marie Cathérine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a Franco-German

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern.

Life

Marie was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

, Germany, with the full name of Marie Cathérine Sophie de Flavigny, the daughter of Alexandre Victor François, Vicomte de Flavigny (1770–1819), a footloose émigré French aristocrat, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Bethmann (1772–1847), a German banker's daughter. The young Marie spent her early years in Germany and completed her education in a French convent after the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

. She entered into an early

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. There are ...

with Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult, Comte d'Agoult (1790–1875) on 16 May 1827, thereby becoming the Comtesse d'Agoult. They had two daughters, Louise (1828–1834) and Claire (1830–1912). Marie never divorced the count, even though she had left him for Franz Liszt. From 1835 to 1839, she lived with composer and

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

pianist

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, who was six years younger, and was then a rising concert star. She became close to Liszt's circle of friends, including

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

, who dedicated his 12 Études, Op. 25 to her (his earlier set of 12 Études, Op. 10 had been dedicated to Liszt). Liszt's "Die Lorelei", one of his very first pieces, based on text by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lie ...

, was also dedicated to her. D'Agoult had three children with Liszt; however, she and Liszt did not marry, maintaining their independent views and other differences while Liszt was busy composing and touring throughout Europe. Marie d'Agoult par Théodore Chasseriau

Her children with Liszt were: * Blandine Rachel (1835–1862), who was the first wife of future French prime minister

Émile Ollivier Olivier Émile Ollivier (; 2 July 182520 August 1913) was a French statesman. Starting as an avid republican opposed to Emperor Napoleon III, he pushed the Emperor toward liberal reforms and in turn came increasingly into Napoleon's grip. He en ...

and died at the age of 26 * Francesca Gaetana Cosima (1837–1930), who first married pianist and conductor

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for est ...

and then composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

* Daniel (1839–1859), who was already a promising pianist and gifted scholar when he died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

. In 1876, she died in Paris, aged 70, and was buried in Division 54 of

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...

Works

*Her first stories (''Hervé'', ''Julien'', and ''Valentia''), published 1841–1845 * ''Histoire de la révolution de 1848'' (appearing from 1850 to 1853, in 3 volumes), her best known work published under the name Daniel Stern * '' Nélida'', a novel (1846) * ''Lettres Républicaines'' in ''Esquisses morales et politiques'' (1849, collected articles) * ''Trois journées de la vie de Marie Stuart'' (1856) * ''Florence et Turin'' (1862) * ''Histoire des commencements de la république aux Pays-Bas'' (1872) *''A Catholic Mother Speaks to Her Children'' (1906, posthumously) *''Mes souvenirs'' (1877, posthumously). * Correspondence with Liszt

References

;Additional sources * Cronin, Vincent. ''Four Women in Pursuit of an Ideal''. London: Collins, 1965; also published as ''The Romantic Way''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. *Stock-Morton, Phyllis. ''The life of Marie d'Agoult, alias Daniel Stern''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. . *
Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions
' *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agoult, Marie de 1805 births 1876 deaths People from the Free City of Frankfurt 19th-century French nobility French women novelists 19th-century German historians German memoirists Writers from Hesse German people of French descent German emigrants to France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Franz Liszt Pseudonymous women writers German women novelists French women memoirists 19th-century French novelists 19th-century French composers 19th-century French historians 19th-century French women writers 19th-century French memoirists 19th-century pseudonymous writers