Madame de Sévigné

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné
Marquise de Sévigné by Lefebvre (1665) by Claude Lefèbvre
Born	5 February 1626 Paris, France
Died	17 April 1696(1696-04-17) (aged 70) Grignan, France
Nationality	French
Spouse(s)	Henri, marquis de Sévigné
Children	Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, Charles de Sévigné
Parent(s)	Celse Bénigne de Rabutin, Marie de Coulanges

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (5 February 1626 – 17 April 1696) was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter. She is revered in France as one of the great icons of French literature.

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal was born in the fashionable Place des Vosges, Paris, to an old and distinguished family from Burgundy. Her father, Celse Bénigne de Rabutin, baron de Chantal, was the son of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, a friend and disciple of Saint Francis de Sales; her mother was Marie de Coulanges. Her father was killed during the English attack on the Isle of Rhé in July 1627. His wife did not survive him by many years, and Marie was left an orphan at the age of seven. She then passed into the care of her maternal grandparents. When her grandfather, Philippe de Coulanges, died in 1636, her uncle, Christophe de Coulanges, abbé of Livry, became her guardian. She received a good education in his care and often referred to him in her correspondence as "le Bien Bon" [the very good].

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal married Henri, marquis de Sévigné, a nobleman from Brittany allied to the oldest houses of that province, but of no great estate. The marriage took place on 4 August 1644, and the couple went almost immediately to the Sévigné manor house of Les Rochers, near Vitré, a place which she was later to immortalize. She gave birth to a daughter, Françoise, on 10 October 1646 (whether at Les Rochers or in Paris is not certain), and to a son, Charles, at Les Rochers on 12 March 1648.

On 4 February 1651, Henri de Sévigné was mortally wounded in a duel with the Chevalier d'Albret after a quarrel over his mistress, Mme de Gondran, and died two days later. Though only twenty-four when her husband died, Mme de Sévigné never married again. Instead, she devoted herself to her children. She spent most of 1651 in retirement at Les Rochers, but returned to Paris that November. Thereafter, she divided her time between the city and the countryside. In Paris, she frequented salons, especially that of Nicolas Fouquet, superintendent of finances to King Louis XIV.