Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier

Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier de Villandon
Born 12 November 1664
Died 24 February 1734 (aged 6970)
Occupation Author
Genre Fantasy

Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier de Villandon (November 1664 – February 24, 1734) was an aristocratic French writer and salonnière of the late 17th century, and a niece of Charles Perrault.[1]

She published three fairy tales early in her career. Although she wrote few thereafter, she marked the beginning of the fairy tale vogue among the Précieuses,[2] publishing her first tale a year before her uncle, the famed author of Les Contes de ma Mère l’Oye (Tales of Mother Goose) in 1696.[3] A great friend and protégé of Madeleine de Scudéry, L'Héritier's participation in the fairy tale genre reflected her involvement in the salon scene, as she and so many of her friends and fellow salonnières, such as Madame d'Aulnoy and Henriette-Julie de Murat, were monumental in the inception of the fairy tale genre, along with her esteemed uncle. She inherited Scudéry's salon upon her death in 1701.[4]

References

  1. Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p 833, ISBN 0-393-97636-X
  2. Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p 834, ISBN 0-393-97636-X
  3. L'Adroite princesse, ou, Les aventures de Finette, Paris, Marie-Jeanne, 1664-1734
  4. Contes, Éd. Raymonde Robert, Paris, Champion, 2005