Germain De Stael

Daughter of a former French finance minister, the well-educated Germaine Necker de Staël was equally comfortable discussing politics, writing brilliant novels, or engaging in passionate love affairs. Forced to flee France in 1803 by Napoleon, she settled into her estate in Switzerland, where her wealth allowed her to live in comfort and to write. Her brilliance and independence made her seem threatening to men, and she was never fully accepted as their equal by the male geniuses of her day. But her literary reputation endures, and her goal of equal rights for women is one that remains at the forefront of political concerns today.

1. Two portraits of de Staël, including one by Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun depicting the subject as the muse of music, are viewable at
   http://www.batguano.com/Xdestael.html
2. Francophones will enjoy this scholarly site devoted solely to de Staël:
   http://www.stael.org/sections.php3?op=viewarticle=15
3. Read an excerpt, translated into English, from Corinne, one of the novels that made de Staël's literary reputation, at
   http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/mws/lastman/corinne.htm
4. A brief biography of the writer, along with a link to a photograph of her château at Coppet, is available at
   http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/stael.htm