Madame de Sévigné

(1626 - 1696)

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, was married for seven years before losing her husband in a duel he fought over his mistress in 1651. As a widow with two children, she spent most of her time at court and the Hôtel de Rambouillet in Paris. The marquise wrote more than 1,700 letters to her daughter.