Marie Françoise Catherine de Beauvau-Craon

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Marie Françoise Catherine de Beauvau, painted by Jean-Marc Nattier .
Signature of Madame de Boufflers.

Marie Françoise Catherine de Beauvau, Marquise de Boufflers (born December 8, 1711 in Lunéville , † July 1, 1786 in Paris ) was the official mistress of Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , the Duke of Lorraine and bar at the court of Lunéville.

Life

Madame de Boufflers was born in 1711 as the daughter of Marc de Beauvau (1679–1754), Prince of Craon, and Anne Marguerite de Lignéville (1686–1772), a mistress of Duke Leopold of Lorraine . She married François de Boufflers (1714–1752), Marquis d'Amestranges.

At the age of 34 she was introduced to the court of Lunéville and in the same year became the official favorite of the 63-year-old Duke Stanislas. Madame de Boufflers was considered beautiful, educated and witty. Voltaire sent her this "bouquet of flowers" in 1748:

"Ces fleurs dont je vous fais présent,
sont comme vous fraîches et belles, comme
moi, simple, naturelles,
mais le temps les fane aisément."

Madame de Boufflers wrote verses and was successful as a pastel painter.

The role of the favorite did not prevent her from entering into numerous affairs that earned her the nickname "Madame de Volupté" (Madame of Lust ). Her relationships with the poet Jean-François de Saint-Lambert , with Monsieur d'Adhémar, with the artistic director of Lorraine Antoine-Martin Chaumont de La Galaizière and with the lawyer and poet François-Antoine Devaux are known .

In order to arouse the jealousy of Madame de Bouffler, Saint-Lambert is said to have seduced Émilie du Châtelet during her stay in Luneville in 1748. Despite this, Madame de Boufflers and Madame du Châtelet had a lifelong friendship.

The importance of Madame Boufflers derives from the fact that her person cheered up the reactive and melancholy Stanislaus I. Leszczyński after his arrival in Lorraine and moved him to entertain the glamorous court of Lunéville for over 20 years. Madame Boufflers drew writers, scientists and artists of European standing to the Lorraine province, which fell to France after the death of Stanislaus I. Leszczyński.

family

Her marriage to François de Boufflers comes from the Chevalier Stanislas de Boufflers , governor of Senegal and poet.

Her sister, Anne-Marguerite-Gabrielle de Beauvau (1707–1792), was married to Gaston-Pierre de Lévis (1699–1757), Duke of Mirepoix and Marshal of France .

literature

  • Gaston Maugras: La Cour de Lunéville au XVIIIème Siècle . Librairie Plon, Plon-Nourrit & Cie Imprimeurs-Editeurs, Paris 1904.
  • Alfred Brossel: Marie-Françoise-Catherine de Beauvau-Craon, Marquise de Boufflers, Favorite de Stanislas . Imprimerie Georges Thomas, Nancy 1968.
  • Marcel Pollitzer: La marquise de Boufflers. La dame de volupté . Aubanel, Paris 1970.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bouquet à Mme de Boufflers , in: Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire , edited by Louis Moland. Garnier, Paris, 1877-1885, vol. 32, p. 411.
  2. ^ Ian Davidson: Voltaire. A life . Profile Books, London 2010, p. 232.
personal data
SURNAME Beauvau-Craon, Marie Françoise Catherine de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boufflers, Marie Françoise Catherine de Beauvau, Marquise de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mistress at the court of Lunéville
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1711
PLACE OF BIRTH Luneville
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1786
Place of death Paris