Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius (23 July 1722 – 12 August 1800), also Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d'Autricourt, nicknamed "Minette", maintained a renowned

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the eighteenth century.

Life

One of the twenty-one children of Jean-Jacques de Ligniville and his wife Charlotte de Saureau, Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, the niece of Madame de Graffigny, married the philosopher Helvétius in 1751. By the time he died twenty years later, the couple had amassed a vast fortune, and with it Madame Helvétius maintained her salon which featured the greatest figures of the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

for over five decades. Among the habitués of Madame Helvétius's salon were Julie de Lespinasse and

Suzanne Necker Suzanne Curchod (1737 – 6 May 1794) was a French-Swiss salonist and writer. She hosted one of the most celebrated salon (gathering), salons of the Ancien Régime. She also led the development of the Hospice de Charité, a model small hospita ...

, writers Fontenelle,

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...

, Chamfort, Duclos, Saint-Lambert, Marmontel, Roucher, Saurin,

André Chénier André Marie Chénier (; 30 October 176225 July 1794) was a French poet associated with the events of the French Revolution, during which he was sentenced to death. His sensual, emotive poetry marks him as one of the precursors of the Romantic ...

, and Volney. Thinkers such as

Condorcet Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (; ; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, political economist, politician, and mathematician. His ideas, including suppo ...

, d'Holbach,

Turgot Turgot may refer to: * Turgot of Durham ( – 1115), Prior of Durham and Bishop of St Andrews * Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690–1751), mayor of Paris * Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781), French economist and statesman * Louis Félix Étienne, ...

, Abbé Sieyès, Abbé Galiani, Destutt de Tracy, Abbé

Beccaria Beccaria is an Italian surname and place name. People *Alessandro Beccaria (born 1988), Italian footballer *Angelo Beccaria (1820–1897), Italian landscape painter *Battista Beccario (15th-century), Genoese cartographer *Cesare Beccaria, or Marq ...

, Abbé Morellet, Buffon, Condillac or Abbé Raynal mingled with such scientists as

d'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanics, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''E ...

Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

and Cabanis. The sculptor Houdon, Baron

Gérard Gérard (French language, French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic languages, Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is ...

and other leading figures of the time such as Charles-Joseph Panckoucke and François-Ambroise Didot were also attendees. Such politicians as Malesherbes, Talleyrand,

Madame Roland Marie-Jeanne "Manon" Roland de la Platière (Paris, March 17, 1754 – Paris, November 8, 1793), born Marie-Jeanne Phlipon, and best known under the name Madame RolandOccasionally, she is referred to as Dame Roland. This however is the except ...

and her husband Roland de la Platière,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

(who is claimed to have proposed marriage to her), Mirabeau, Pierre Daunou, Garat, Nicolas Bergasse and

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

could also be found at her salon. The

Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...

led to a parting of the ways among Enlightened opinion in general and Madame Helvétius's salon did not escape that. The more conservative members, such as Morellet, Marmontel and Suard withdrew. Morellet did his best to persuade her to stay neutral but to no avail as she sided with more radical leaders such as Volney and Sieyès.Jonathan Israel, Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from the Rights of Man to Robespierre, pp. 62-63 The salon also provided a steady home for a great clowder of

Angora cat The Turkish Angora (, 'Ankara cat') is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central Anatolia ( Ankara Province in modern-day Turkey). The breed has been documented as ear ...

s. The cats were a well-known feature of Madame Helvétius's salon, always bedecked with silk ribbons and doted on by their loving caregiver. Eighteen in all, the cats were kept company by the Madame's dogs, canaries, and many other pets. Madame Helvétius died at Auteuil.

In popular culture

Madame Helvétius appears in the 2008 television drama series ''

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

'', in which she is played by

Judith Magre Judith Magre (born 20 November 1926) is a French actress, born in Montier-en-Der, Haute-Marne. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magre, Judith 1926 births Living people French film actresses French television ...

. Madame Helvétius is mentioned briefly in the Robert Lawson

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

''Ben and Me'' (1939) as having many important people at her dinners, and also having cats (distressing to the protagonist, who is a

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

) and a particularly disagreeable dog. She is portrayed in the Apple TV series " Franklin " by

Jeanne Balibar Jeanne Balibar (born 13 April 1968) is a French actress and singer. Life and career Balibar was born in Paris, the daughter of Marxist philosopher Étienne Balibar and physicist Françoise Balibar. She started her career as a student in th ...

Notes

References

* Peter Allan, ', Toronto, University of Toronto, 1975 *

Jules Bertaut Jules Bertaut (28 March 1877 – 7 October 1959) was a French writer, historian and lecturer. In 1959, he was awarded the grand prix de littérature de la SGDL for his work. Works Selected works: *1900: ''Secrets d'un siècle'', Amiot *190 ...

, ''Égéries du XVIII^e siècle : madame Suard, madame Delille, madame Helvétius, madame Diderot, mademoiselle Quinault'', Paris, Plon 1928 * J. A. Dainard, et al., ''Correspondance de Mme de Graffigny'', Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1985--, in progress; vol. 13 due in 2010, edition complete in 15 vols. * Benjamin Franklin, ''M. F--n ranklinà Madame H--s elvétius', Passy, imp. par Benjamin Franklin, 1779 * Antoine Guillois, ''Le salon de madame Helvétius; Cabanis et les idéologues'', New York, B. Franklin, 1971 * Claude-Adrien Helvétius, ', Éd. David Smith (director), Peter Allan, Alan Dainard and Jean Orsoni, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1981-2004 * Arsène Houssaye, ''Histoire du 41^e fauteuil de l'Académie Française'', Paris, L. Hachette et cie, 1856 * Lucien Picqué, Louis Dubousquet, « L'incident du salon de Madame Helvétius (Cabanis et l'abbé Morellet) », ''Bulletin de la société française d'histoire de la médecine'', T. 13 (1914) * Jean-Paul de Lagrave, Marie-Thérèse Inguenaud, ''Madame Helvétius et la société d'Auteuil'', Oxford Voltaire Foundation, 1999 * Jules Auguste Troubat, ''Essais critiques, Madame Helvétius'', Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1902 *Walter Isaacson, ''Benjamin Franklin. An American Life.'' NY, Simon & Schuster, 2003 pp. 363 –36
online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helvetius, Anne-Catherine French salon-holders 1722 births 1800 deaths 18th-century French letter writers French women letter writers