(1634-93), French novelist, born in Paris. She studied Greek, Latin, and Italian in her youth. In 1655 she married François Motier, comte de La Fayette (d. 1683), and lived with him on his estates in Auvergne until he deserted her about 1660. She then took up life in Paris; from about 1665 she maintained an intimate relationship with the noted writer François de La Rochefoucauld. Her novel La princesse de Clèves (1678), her masterpiece, is noted for its keen psychological understanding; one of its principal characterizations is a portrait of La Rochefoucauld. She also wrote the biography Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre (Henrietta of England, 1720).
La Fayette, Marie Madeleine (Pioche de La Vergne), Comtesse de
Grades: K-12 Overall Rating: Not Yet Rated
