Jeanne Sophie de Vignerot du Plessis (''Jeanne Louise Armande Élisabeth Sophie ''; 1740 – 14 October 1773) known as ''Septimanie d'Egmont'' was a French salonist.

Biography

Born the daughter of Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis,

Duke of Richelieu Duke of Richelieu () was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down to. It instead passed to hi ...

, and Princess

Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine (Marie Élisabeth Sophie; 1710 – 2 August 1740) was a French noblewoman and the second wife of Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, the notoriously lecherous Duke of Richelieu. Biography She was born in 1710 and was ...

(daughter of Joseph, Count of Harcourt), a French ''

prince étranger ''Prince étranger'' (English: "foreign prince") was a high, though somewhat ambiguous, rank at the French royal court of the ''Ancien Régime''. Terminology In medieval Europe, a nobleman bore the title of prince as an indication of sovereignty, ...

'', she was raised with her paternal aunt in a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

convent. In 1755 she was married to Don Casimir

Pignatelli Pignatelli () is an Italian surname which may refer to: People * House of Pignatelli, an aristocratic family of Naples * Fabio Pignatelli (born 1953), an Italian musician * Luca Pignatelli (born 1962), an Italian artist * William Pignatelli (born 1 ...

Count of Egmont This is a list of lords and counts of Egmont (Egmond aan den Hoef) of the House of Egmont. Lords of Egmont * Radbold I (?-791) * Gerbrand (?-845) * Wolbrand (?-869) * Radbold II (?-920) * Dodo I (?–977) * Walger (?–1036) * Dodo II (?–1074) ...

, Prince de Gavre (1727-1801), son of Don Procopio Pignatelli d'Egmont, Duke of Bisaccia, Prince de Gavre (1703-1743) and his wife, Henriette Julie de Durfort (1696-1779). She hosted a salon which gathered "the literary celebrities of the days", including

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

and

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

, and was a center of opposition to

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...

. Through her close friendship with the Swedish ambassador to France, Ulrik Scheffer, she came to know the future

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he s ...

during his visit to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1771. Thereafter she maintained a correspondence with him during his reign. She advised him to "repress the strife of the raging parties", advocated a "monarchy restrained by laws" and greeted his coup of 1772 with joy, especially its non-bloody character. She called Gustav III "The hero of my heart", and it is considered likely that she had influence "upon the enlightened, humanistic, in many ways liberated direction of the early reign of Gustav III". Rousseau visited her at her

Château de Braine The Château de Braine was a château in Braine, Aisne, Picardy, France. It served as a country home for the counts of Egmont-Pignatteli, and its gardens were designed by André Le Nôtre. History The first counts of Braine belonged to the ...

in 1771, where he recited his autobiographical work Confessions. Blog describing Rousseau’s visit to Braine
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Ancestry

References

Sources

* Marie-Célestine-Amélie-de Segur Armaille, Comtesse d', ''La comtesse d'Egmont, fille du maréchal de Richelieu, 1740-1773. D'après ses lettres inédites à Gustave III'', Perrin et Cie, 1890. * Jean-Claude Hauc, "Septimanie d'Egmont, princesse républicaine" in ''Trois femmes des Lumières'', Les Editions de Paris, 2010.
Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 6. Degeberg - Egyptolog
* Beth Hennings, Grevinnan d'Egmont och Gustav III (1920) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vignerot Du Plessis, Jeanne Sophie De 1740 births 1773 deaths French salon-holders French untitled nobility People of the Ancien Régime 18th-century French people French nobility Countesses in Italy