Sévigné, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de

(1626-1696)

   writer

   The author of one of the most celebrated epistolary collections, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné was born in Paris, where she was educated by tutors. Quite cultivated, lively, and talented, in 1644 she married the marquis de Sévigné, who was killed in a duel in 1651. Widowed at age 25, she reestablished herself at Rochers, in Brittany, with visits to Paris, where she frequented the court and the social and intellectual circles of the salons, especially that of Mme de la fayette. Mme de Sévigné left a vast correspondence (more than 1,500 letters) written to her by friends, and, above all, by her daughter, the countess de grignan, who lived in Provence and whom she missed very much. These Lettres (posthumous, 1726) are spontaneous and detailed chronicles of the events and personages at the court and life among the high society of 17th-century France. Sprinkled with sparkling and humorous anecdotes, the letters also tell of Mme de Sévigné's life and her relationship with her daughter. Long seen as a valuable tableau of the era, this correspondence is written with a freedom of style exceptional in the classical age.