Isabelle de Charrière
| Isabelle de Charrière | |
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Portrait of Isabelle de Charrière by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, 1771.
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| Born |
20 October 1740 Castle Zuylen, Utrecht Netherlands |
| Died | 27 December 1805 (aged 65) Le Pontet, Colombier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| Pen name | Belle van Zuylen, Belle de Zuylen, Zélide, Abbé de la Tour |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet, playwright |
| Nationality | Dutch, Swiss |
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Isabelle de Charrière (20 October 1740 – 27 December 1805), known as Belle van Zuylen in the Netherlands, née Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken, and [Madame] Isabelle de Charrière elsewhere, was a Dutch writer of the Enlightenment who lived the latter half of her life in Switzerland. She is now best known for her letters and novels, although she also wrote pamphlets, music and plays. She took a keen interest in the society and politics of her age, and her work around the time of the French Revolution is regarded as being of particular interest.
Isabelle van Tuyll van Serooskerken was born in Castle Zuylen near Utrecht in the Netherlands, to Diederik Jacob van Tuyll van Serooskerken (1707–1776), and Helena Jacoba de Vicq (1724–1768). She was the eldest of seven children. Her parents were described by the Scots author James Boswell, then a student in law in Utrecht and one of her suitors, as "one of the most ancient noblemen in the Seven Provinces" and "an Amsterdam lady, with a great deal of money." In winter they lived in their house in the city of Utrecht.
In 1750, Isabelle was sent to Geneva and travelled through Switzerland and France. Having spoken only French for a year, she had to relearn Dutch on returning home to the Netherlands. However, French would remain her preferred language for the rest of her life, which helps to explain why, for a long time, her work was not as well known in her country of birth as it otherwise might have been.
Isabelle enjoyed a much broader education than was usual for girls at that time, thanks to the liberal views of her parents who also let her study subjects like mathematics. By all accounts, she was a gifted student. Always interested in music, in 1785 she began studying with composer Niccolò Zingarelli.
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