Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (French: [ʒan maʁi ləpʁɛ̃s də bomɔ̃] ⓘ; 26 April 1711 – 8 September 1780) was a French writer who wrote the best-known version of Beauty and the Beast, an abridged adaptation of the 1740 fairy tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Born to a middle-class family, she was raised alongside her younger sister, Catherine Aimée. Both were provided education at a convent school and stayed on as teachers. Rather than remain and take her vow as a nun, she left for Metz, France, and became a governess for a prominent family in a court in Lunéville. As a long-time educator, she became well known for her written works on behavior and instructional teaching for young women. Her interest in the genre of education contributed to her inclusion of fairytales to teach moral behavior.

Although she was a successful writer for her time, her works as a pedagogue sometimes shadowed her publishing on topics of socio-political issues. Within many of her other works, she discussed reform for the roles of women in society. She urged women to become active political participants by providing them with literary instruction on how to become instrumental citizens.

Her contributions to children's literature and the folklore genre have gained her popularity and influence as a female writer of the eighteenth century.

Life and work Christened as Marie-Barbe Le Prince, she was born in 1711 in Rouen, France, the eldest daughter of Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, a sculptor and painter, and his second wife Barbe Plantart. Having lost her mother when she was eleven years old, she and her younger sister, Catherine, were subsequently mentored by two wealthy women who enrolled them in a convent school at Ernemont in Rouen. Upon completing their educations, they remained there as teachers from 1725 to 1735. In 1735, instead of taking her vow as a nun, she left the convent school and settled in Metz, France where her father was staying with his third wife. All of these works were written as instructional handbooks for parents and educators of students from childhood through adolescence, mostly for young females. She also wrote for other audiences like boys, artists, and people living in poverty or rural areas.

De Beaumont also wrote several novels, such as Lettres de Madame du Montier and Memoires de Madame laBaronne de Batteville, both published in 1756. Then, she published Civan, roide Bungo, histoire japonnoise ou tableau de I'education d'un prince all in 1758. Lastly, The New Clarissa: A True History was published in 1768 and Lettres d'Emerance a Lucie in 1774. The New Clarissa: A True History was a novel she wrote as a reply to the original novel Clarissa: Or The History Of A Young Lady by Samuel Richardson. In her version, the lead female character maintained more control over her life and individual freedom. predating the widely circulated idea that cartographer and mapseller John Spilsbury was the first inventor of puzzles in 1766. After a successful publishing career in England, she left the country in 1763 and returned to France. She lived first in Savoy, near the city of Annecy, then moved to Avallon near Dijon in 1774 (see her personal letter #21 dated 22 December 1774 to Thomas Tyrrell) until her death in 1780.

Personal life Her first marriage was in 1743 to the dancer, Antoine Grimard de Beaumont. Shortly after, she bore a daughter, named Elisabeth. In 1745, her relationship with de Beaumont ended, through annulment or separation, but kept his name. For her, fairytales were a productive way to disguise learning moments while children were engaged in the extraordinary elements of folklore. Her version's popularity and common acknowledgment as the "original" Beauty and the Beast are credited to its reduced length.

In fiction Because of her relationship in London with the French spy Thomas Pichon (1700–1781), she is a character in a novel entitled Crossings : A Thomas Pichon Novel, by A. J. B. Johnston. However, in that fictional appearance, the dates for her relationship with Pichon are not accurate.

Works

(1st edition 1758)

Fairy tales Magasin des enfants Le Prince Chéri (Prince Darling) La Curiosité (The Curiosity) La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) Le Prince Fatal et le Prince Fortuné (Prince Fatal and Prince Fortune) Le Prince Charmant (Prince Charming) La Veuve et ses deux filles (The Widow and her Two Daughters) Le Prince Désir (Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess) Aurore et Aimée (Aurore and Aimée) Conte des trois souhaits (The Tale of the Three Wishes) Conte du pêcheur et du voyageur (The Tale of the Fisherman and the Traveler) Joliette Le Prince Tity (Prince Tity) Le Prince Spirituel (Prince Spirituel) Belote et Laidronette (Belote and Laidronette) Morlock te Money (Morlock te Money)