Roches, Madeleine des (1520–1587)
Roches, Madeleine des (1520–1587)
French poet, playwright and salonnière. Name variations: Madeleine Neveu; Madeleine Neveu des Roches; Les Dames des Roches or Les Demoiselles des Roches (the surname comes from landholdings). Born 1520 in Poitiers, France; died of the plague in 1587 in Poitiers; married and widowed; m. 2nd husband François Eboissard (died 1578); children: (1st m.) Catherine des Roches (1542–1587, writer).
Lived in Poitiers and became famous for a weekly salon in the parish of Saint-Michel; lived an unconventional life with daughter and insisted on a woman's right to culture and learning; with daughter, also wrote prose and poetry, translated works from Latin, published 2 sets of dialogues (Placide et Sévère and Iris et Pasithaé) and frequently corresponded, resulting in Les Missives de Mes Dames Des Roches (1586), the 1st correspondence between women published in France.