Jeanne Julie Éléonore de Lespinasse (November 9, 1732 – May 23, 1776) owned a prominent salon in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Early life

She was born in Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, an illegitimate child of the comtesse d'Albon, but was brought up as the daughter of Claude Lespinasse of Lyon. At the age of 16, on leaving her convent school, she became governess in the home of her mother's legitimate daughter, Madame de Vichy, who had married the brother of Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand

Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand

Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand was a French hostess and patron of the arts.She was born at the Château de Chamrond, in Ligny-en-Brionnais, a village near Charolles of a noble family. Educated at a convent in Paris, she showed great intelligence and a sceptical, cynical turn of...

. Here Madame du Deffand made her acquaintance, and, recognizing her extraordinary gifts, persuaded her to come to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 as her companion.

The Salon of Madame du Deffand

Julie moved into Madame du Deffand's apartments in Convent of St. Joseph in 1754, location of the glittering salon that attracted famous diplomats, great ladies, philosophers and politicians. The relationship lasted ten years until 1764, when Madame du Deffand became jealous of the younger woman's increasing influence and a violent quarrel resulted.

Establishment of her own Salon

Mlle de Lespinasse then set up a salon of her own which was joined by many of the most brilliant members of Madame du Deffand's circle. Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...

 was one of the most assiduous of her friends and eventually came to live in her house. This arrangement ensured d'Alembert's comfort and lent influence to Mlle de Lespinasse's salon. Although she had neither beauty nor rank, her ability as a hostess made her get-togethers the most popular in Paris. She owes her distinction, however, not to her social success, but to circumstances which remained a secret during her lifetime, even from her closest friends.

Two volumes of Lettres published in 1809 displayed her as the victim of a passion of a rare intensity. In virtue of this ardent, intense quality, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...

 and other of her critics place her letters in the limited category to which belong the Latin letters of Héloise

Heloise (student of Abelard)

Héloïse d’Argenteuil was a French nun, writer, scholar, and abbess, best known for her love affair and correspondence with Peter Abélard.- Background :...

 and the Letters of a Portuguese Nun

Letters of a Portuguese Nun

The Letters of a Portuguese Nun , first published anonymously by Claude Barbin in Paris in 1669, is a work believed by most scholars to be epistolary fiction in the form of five letters written by Gabriel-Joseph de La Vergne, comte de Guilleragues , a minor peer, diplomat, secretary to the Prince...

.

Relationship with the marquis de Mora

Her first passion, a reasonable and serious one, was for the Marquis de Mora, son of the Spanish ambassador in Paris. She first met him about two years after establishing her salon, and then met him again when he returned to Paris two years later. Julie fell in love with the wealthy and handsome Marquis, and he returned her feelings. He began to suffer symptoms of consumption, however, and returned to Spain because of his ill health. Mora's illness and the separation caused Julie much pain and anxiety, although soon after his departure she became acquainted with the man who would be the main passion of her life, the Comte de Guibert. On the way to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1774 to fulfill promises exchanged with Mlle de Lespinasse, Mora died at Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

.

Relationship with the Comte du Guibert

Julie's letters to the Comte de Guibert

Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert

Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert was a French general and military writer. Born at Montabaun, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself...

, the undeserving object of her fatal infatuation, begin from 1773.
From the struggle between her affection for Mora and her blind passion for her new lover, the letters go on to describe her partial disenchantment on Guibert's marriage and her final despair.

Death

Julie finally fell into total mental and physical collapse, apparently caused by the agitation and misery surrounding her relationship with Guibert. On her deathbed, she refused to receive Guibert and was watched over by her faithful friend, d'Alembert. She died on May 22, 1776 at the age of 44. She is said to have uttered the last words "Am I still alive?" before expiring.

Publications

Her Lettres were published by Mme de Guibert in 1809 and a spurious additional collection appeared in 1820. Modern editions include that of Eugène Asse (1876-1877). Lettres inédités de Mademoiselle de Lespinasse à Condorcet, à D'Alembert, à Guibert, au comte de Crillon, edited by M. Charles Henry (1887), contains copies of the documents available for her biography. In addition to the Lettres she was the author of two chapters intended as a kind of sequel to Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne

Laurence Sterne was an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics...

's Sentimental Journey.
Mary Augusta Ward

Mary Augusta Ward

Mary Augusta Ward née Arnold; , was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward.- Early life:...

's novel, Lady Rose's Daughter, owes something to the character of Mlle de Lespinasse.