Caroline Stéphanie Félicité, Madame de Genlis
*January 25, 1746, in Champcéry, France
†December 31, 1830, in Paris, France
Stéphanie-Félicité Ducrest de Saint-Aubin, later known as Comtesse de Genlis, was born in 1746 in Champcéry, Burgundy. She grew up in an aristocratic but financially straitened family and her formal education was limited to the arts. In 1763, she secretly married Charles Alexis, comte Bruslart de Genlis, and was adopted into the family two years later. Known for her musical talent and acting skills, Genlis found favor in exclusive circles. However, her true influence developed when she joined the Palais-Royal in 1772 and was in the service of the Chartres family.
In 1779, she left her husband and began teaching the Chartres children, making her the female “governor” of the royal princes. As political tensions grew, she organized salons attended by influential reformers. Genlis was a writer and contributed to education with works such as “Théâtre à l’usage des jeunes personnes” (1779) and “Adèle et Théodore” (1782). Her literary success reached as far as England, where she received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1785. After personal losses and the execution of her husband during the French Revolution, Genlis struggled with financial difficulties. She emigrated to England and returned to Paris a decade later, where she was supported by Napoleon and became a prolific writer.
Her oeuvre includes novels such as “Mademoiselle de Clermont” (1802) and historical writings such as “Histoire de Henri le Grand” (1815). Genlis left a lasting legacy as an educator, writer and influential figure in the political and literary circles of her time. In the last years of her life, Genlis lived in a Parisian boarding house in the Rue du faubourg du Roule and continued her intellectual activities, publishing manuals and novels until her death in 1830. (see Barclay, K., & Soyer, F. 2021, p. 178-181)
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