GOURNAY, MARIE DE JARS de. - French woman of letters, b. in Paris on 6 Oct. 1565, d. there on 13 July 1645.

She taught herself Latin and Greek and, while still very young, read with enthusiasm Montaigne's Essais, and he adopted her as a daughter. She frequented the court, was well regarded by Henry IV, protected by Richelieu and honored by the literary public. She defended the Jesuits, drawing upon herself the wrath of the enemies of the Order, and upheld Montaigne's literary ideal against the theories of Malherbe and précieux style. She edited the definitive edition of the Essais (1593) and wrote verses and moral treatises (Traité sur l'éducation des enfants de France).

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: Works: a first edition of the works appeared in Paris in 1626 under the title Ombres de la demoiselle de G.; it was followed by others in 1634 and 1641 under the title Les adsis ou les presens de la demoiselle de G. Studies: M. Bayle-L. Feugère, Mlle de G., étude sur sa vie et ses ouvrages, Paris 1853; M. Schiff, La fille d'alliance de Montaigne, M. de G., ibid. 1910; J. Dappen, M. de J. de G., die « Wahltochter » Montaigne, Düsseldorf 1927; L. M. Richardson, The forerunners of feminism in French literature of the Renaissance from Christine of Pisa to M. de G., Baltimore 1929 (passim).

Elena Bosticco

@incollection{ec6_gournay_marie_de_jars_de, author = {Bosticco, Elena}, title = {Gournay, marie de jars de}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {966}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/gournay-marie-de-jars-de} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Gournay, Marie de Jars de

About this entry