Julie de Lespinasse

Jeanne Julie Éléonore de Lespinasse (9 November 1732 – 23 May 1776) was a French salon holder and letter writer. She ran a prominent salon in Paris during the Enlightenment. She is best-known today, however, for her letters, first published in 1809, which offer compelling accounts of two tragic love affairs.

Julie-Jeanne-Éléonore de Lespinasse was born in Lyon, the illegitimate daughter of Julie-Claude-Hilaire d’Albon, who was the sole heir of an old family. Her mother, who was married to the Comte d'Albon, separated from her husband at the time of her birth, and the baby was baptized as the daughter of two fictitious persons, 'Claude Lespinasse' and his wife 'Julie Navarre'. The mystery of who her father really was did not get cleared up until her first careful biographer, the Marquis de Ségur, established that she was the daughter of Gaspard de Vichy-Chamrond, whose sister, Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand, ran a famous Paris salon.

Looked down on for her poverty and illegitimate birth, Mlle de Lespinasse had an unhappy childhood marked by neglect. She acquired a basic education at a convent, but she was largely self-educated, an impressive feat given that she was later able to hold her own among France's top intellectuals. In 1754, Madame du Deffand, who recognized her niece's extraordinary gifts, persuaded her to come to Paris as her companion.

Julie moved into Mme du Deffand's apartments in the Convent of St. Joseph, where Mme du Deffand's salon attracted diplomats, aristocrats, philosophers, and politicians. The relationship lasted ten years until 1764, when Mme du Deffand became jealous of the younger woman's increasing influence with the younger generation of salon attendees and a quarrel resulted.

Mlle de Lespinasse then set up a salon of her own that attracted many of the same people who had attended Mme du Deffand's salon. The mathematician and writer Jean le Rond d'Alembert became a close friend, joined her new salon, and eventually came to live in her house, though they were not romantically involved. This arrangement lent further influence to Mlle de Lespinasse's salon, which became a center for writers of the Encyclopédie. Diderot, for example, made her a protagonist of his controversial philosophical dialogues entitled D'Alembert's Dream. Although she had neither wealth nor rank and was not an outstanding beauty, Mlle de Lespinasse had intellect, charm, and ability as a hostess, qualities that made her get-togethers the most popular in Paris. She owes her continuing notability less to her social success, however, than to a literary talent that remained a secret during her lifetime, even from her closest friends.

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