Marie de sevigne biography

French noble

"Madame de Sévigné" redirects here. For the 2024 French historical drama film, see Madame de Sévigné (film).

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (French pronunciation:[maʁidəʁabytɛ̃ʃɑ̃tal]; 5 February 1626 – 17 April 1696), also widely known as Madame de Sévigné or Mme de Sévigné ([madamdəseviɲe]), was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing.

Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter, Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné. She is revered in France as one of the great icons of French 17th-century literature.

Life

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal was born in the fashionable Place des Vosges (then called the Place Royale), Paris, to an old and distinguished family from Burgundy.

Her father, Celse Bénigne de Rabutin, baron de Chantal, was the son of Saint Jeanne Françoise de Chantal, a friend and disciple of Saint Francis de Sales; her