Lespinasse, Julie Jeanne Éléonore de

Lespinasse, Julie Jeanne Éléonore de (zhülē' zhän ālāōnôr' du lespēnäs') [key], 1732–76, French woman of letters. She aided (1754–64) Mme Du Deffand in her salon and organized (1764) one of her own, which superseded that of her patroness after a break came between the women. Mlle de Lespinasse's salon was a center for the writers of the Encyclopédie. Her letters (written 1773–76; tr. 1901, 1929) to the comte de Guibert are celebrated as a chronicle of unhappy love.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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