Born: 25 September 1696, France
Died: 23 September 1780
Country most active: France
Also known as: Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Madame du Deffand (1697-1780), a French social leader, whose salon during her long life was frequented by the most brilliant men and women of her time. Born of parents belonging to noble families of Bourgogne, Marie de Vichy Chamrond was sent at the age of six to a convent in Paris, when she developed symptoms of heresy and scepticism alarming to her guardians and relatives.
So determined was she in the line of thought she had chosen that it was at length arranged for her to see the famous preacher Massillon, who accorded her an interview in the hope of converting the young infidel. He found her so clever, vivacious, charming, and full of good sense, that he took his departure from the convent more impressed by her delightful waywardness and wit than shocked by her want of faith.
In 1718 she married the Marquis du Deffand, but they soon separated, and she plunged into the gay life of Paris during the early days of the reign of Louis XV. Among her lovers and friends were Philippe d’Orleans, President Henault, Voltaire, D’Alembert, Horace Walpole, and other distinguished men. Her house became famous for her petits soupers, and for many years she received there the celebrities of every European nationality. Her salon was peculiarly broad and inclusive of all branches of thought; neither the political, the philosophic, nor the literary element dominated. The fashionable and the frivolous were welcomed equally with the learned, the courtly and noble with those who possessed no other wealth than brains enough to help them into prominence. She found her purpose in life, which was to establish a reputation as an infallible wit, to chase ennui, to entertain all those who succeeded in gaining her good will, to direct the sparkling discourse which, as a vital thread, bound together the ever-changing panorama of individuals, to glide over and suppress such gloomy topics of conversation as were ever-ready at this hour to burst forth without warning; in short, to cultivate and foster those minor graces of society which are attributes of the perfect hostess and attain to an art which at that day was carried to the supreme point of finesse and elaboration.
In 1750 Mme. du Deffand’s eyesight began to fail, and four years later she became totally blind, but she never for a moment relaxed the interest she took in entertaining her friends, and the vacancies which occurred from time to time in her circle were filled up again as they were created. She was almost eighty-three years of age when she gave the last of her evening receptions, at which La Harpe read his translation of a Sophoclean tragedy. It has been said of her that she possessed all the gifts but one—the power of turning them to the best advantage; it is certain that she had all but one of the qualities necessary for loving and being loved—and that was to fasten both attributes upon a single individual and achieve reciprocity.
From Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.:
Marie Deffand, Patron of Fashion and Literature, 1697 – 1780 A.D.
An accomplished French woman, resplendent in the age of Louis XV., was born in Paris in 1687, and she died in the same city in 1780. She was of noble birthday, and was educated in a convent, but at an early age astonished her parents by her skeptical opinions on religious subjects.
At twenty years of age she was married to the Marquis du Deffand, for whom her indiscretions soon caused her to be separated, after which she launched a into a career of fashionable dissipation, and for many was one of the most brilliant ornaments of the court of Louis XV. Although incapable from natural selfishness and want of sympathy of entertaining the passion of love, she knew how to inspire others; and over the greater part of her numerous lovers, among whom, it is said, was the regent himself, her influence remained unimpaired until their dotage.
Her conversational powers and clear, cool judgement caused her to be courted by the most eminent men of the time, and in her fifty-sixth year she became totally blind, her salons in the convent of St. Joseph were the favorite resort of Montesquieu, Voltaire, President Hénault, David Hume, D’Alembert, and many others. At this period in her life she became acquainted with Horace Walpole, between whom and herself a correspondence was for many years carried on.
As she grew old her selfish traits developed more disagreeably, and the ungenerous manner in which she treated her companion and reader, Mlle. de Lespinasse, alienated many of her friends. Her latter years were marked with peevishness and ennui, and she died unhappy after several years unavailing efforts to consecrate herself to the life of a devotee.
Her epistolary writings comprise her correspondence with Hénault, Montesquieu, D’Alembert, and the Duchess of Maine, and with Horace Walpole. Her prose style is a model of elegance, but her poetry never rose above mediocrity.