Marie Louise Victoire de Donnissan de La Rochejaquelein née ''marquise de Lescure'' (; 25 October 1772 - 15 February 1857), was a French

memoirist A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) ...

. She is known for her memoirs, depicting her misfortunes and her part in the Vendée wars.

Life

She was born at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

as the daughter of the courtier Guy Joseph de Donnissan and the lady-in-waiting Marie-Françoise de Durfort-Civrac. She was a member of a court family, and the goddaughter of Madame Victoire. She and her mother left the court after the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, and retired to the family property in the country.

French revolution

In 1791, she married her cousin the marquis de Lescure, with whom she had been engaged since childhood. The couple intended to emigrate in February 1792, but decided to stay in Paris on the request of the queen, and attended the royal court. She describe both the

Demonstration of 20 June 1792 The Demonstration of 20 June 1792 () was the last bloodless attempt made by the revolutionaries of Paris to persuade King Louis XVI of France to abandon his current policy and adopt a more compliant role in the escalating frenzy of the French R ...

as well as the Storming of the Tuileries in her memoirs. She and her spouse left Paris before the

September massacres The September Massacres were a series of killings and summary executions of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792 from 2 September to 6 September during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''sans-culottes'' ...

. She accompanied her spouse during the Revolt in the Vendée. She became a widow in 1793. She left for Spain in 1797.

Later life

She was able to return to France in 1799. When a conciliatory policy was adopted, she managed to save much of the property of herself and her late spouse. In 1802, she secondly married , the cousin of her first spouse, and retired with him to her estates, both refusing all offers to serve in any capacity under

Napoleon 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 ...

. She had a daughter, Louise de La Rochejaquelin who was a friend of Georges Sand.In 1814, the couple took an active part in the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

movement in and about

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, when her spouse attempted to bring about another Vendan rising for

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

, for which he was killed. She died at

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 1815. They are considered to give a remarkable picture of the war and the fortunes of the Royalists.

References

1772 births 1857 deaths 18th-century French nobility 18th-century French women writers 19th-century French memoirists 19th-century French women writers French marchionesses People of the War in the Vendée {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub French counter-revolutionaries