Sophie de Condorcet
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sophie de Condorcet (1764, Meulan – 8 September 1822, Paris), best known as Madame de Condorcet, was a prominent salon hostess from 1789 to the Reign of Terror, and again from 1799 until her death in 1822. She was the wife and then the widow of the mathematician and philosopher Nicolas de Condorcet, who died during the Reign of Terror. Despite the death of her husband, and the disgrace and exile of her brother Marshal Emmanuel, Marquis de Grouchy between 1815 and 1821, she was well-connected and influential before, during, and after the French Revolution. As a hostess, Madame de Condorcet was popular for her kind heart, her beauty, and her indifference to class and social origins. Unlike her fellow-Girondist hostess Madame Roland, her salons always included other women, notably Olympe de Gouges. She was, however, also a writer and a translator in her own right, very well-educated for her day, and completely fluent in English and Italian [1]. She produced influential translations of Thomas Paine and Adam Smith.
