Anne-Charlotte de Crussol de Florensac

Anne-Charlotte de Crussol de Florensac, duchesse d'Aiguillon (1700–1772), was a lady of the court of Louis XV. Renowned for her wit, as a woman of letters and translator, she ran a literary salon and was associated with Montesquieu, the philosophers and the Encyclopédistes. It was to her that Montesquieu entrusted the manuscript of the Persian Letters (Lettres Persanes) for publication.

Early life and education

Anne-Charlotte de Crussol de Florensac was the daughter of Louis de Crussol (c.1645-1716), marquis de Florensac, maréchal de camp, and Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Senneterre de Châteauneuf vicomtesse de L'Estrange et de Cheylane.

Anne-Charlotte's youth was marked by a pronounced taste for the study of science; she spoke several languages fluently.

Marriage

At the age of 18, on August 22, 1718, she married Armand Louis de Vignerot du Plessis (1683-1750), Duke of Aiguillon, peer de France, man of letters, and member of the French Academy of Sciences. She was the mother of Emmanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Aiguillon (1720-1788), future General and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In 1731, she became the third Duchesse d'Aiguillon.

Career Literary salon in Paris The duchesse d'Aiguillon translated various English works, notably by Alexander Pope and James Macpherson. She held a literary salon in her hotel on Rue de l'Université, Paris, welcoming philosophers, economists and Encyclopédistes. She was renowned as a woman of wit, and became a fixture in Parisian literary circles.

Selected works Translations Translation of l'Épître d'Héloïse à Abélard, by Alexander Pope, Paris, Tilliard, 1758. Translation of Carthon, translated from Macpherson's English by Madame de *** [François-Louis-Claude Marin and Anne-Charlotte de Crussol-Florensac, duchesse d'Aiguillon], London, Paris, 1762.