Du Deffand, Marie de Vichy Chamrond, marquise, 1697-1780

Marie Anne de Vichy Chamrond, marquise du Deffand (1697-1780), was married at 21 to her kinsman, Jean Baptiste de la Lande, marquis du Deffand. The marriage resulted in a separation as early as 1722. However, her intelligence, cynicism, and wit gained her such friends as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Fontenelle and Madame de Staal-Delaunay, the president Henault, and D'Alembert. The principal friendships of her later years were with the duchesse de Choiseul and with Horace Walpole. She died on September 23, 1780, leaving her papers to Walpole.

From the description of Letters, 1737-1780. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702187809

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