Françoise de Graffigny

Felicia Gottmann (University of Northumbria at Newcastle)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Born 11 Feb 1695
Died 12 Dec 1758
Activity 1747-1757

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Genres and Modes

Epistolary

Activities

Primary

Children's/Young Adult writer
Letter-writer/ Diarist
Novelist
Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Graffigny's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Françoise de Graffigny was one of the most important literary figures of mid-eighteenth-century France. Her epistolary novel, the

Lettres d’une Péruvienne

, was an instant best-seller and immediately translated into various European languages. She was also one of the few, perhaps the only, truly successful female playwright:

Cénie

ranked amongst the most successful plays of the century. Largely due to her fame as an author, her salon became one of the hubs of Enlightenment Paris, which drew the best-known writers, artists, scientists, politicians, financiers, and aristocrats. The Imperial court at Vienna accorded her patronage, the

Encyclopédie

mentions her in several articles, and visitors from all over Europe sought entry to her salon. Posterity has not treated her this kindly.…

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3057 words

Citation: Gottmann, Felicia. "Françoise de Graffigny". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12651, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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