Helvétius, Madame (1719–1800)

views updated

Helvétius, Madame (1719–1800)

French salonnière. Name vari ations: Anne-Catherine Helvetius; Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d'Autricourt; Anne Catherine "Minette" de Ligniville. Born Anne-Catherine de Ligniville d'Autricourt, 1719, in France; died 1800; m. Claude-Adrien Helvétius (1715–1771, philosopher and father of utilitarianism); children: Marie Adelaide Genevieve, countess d'Andlau (1754–1817).

Renowned, well-connected beauty, reigned over a salon of Enlightenment philosophes on her estate near the Bois de Boulogne; was the object of Benjamin Franklin's amorous attentions.