MARIE THÉRÈSE GEOFFRIN

MARIE THÉRÈSE GEOFFRIN (1699-1777), a French patroness of letters, born at Paris, the daughter of a valet-de-chambre; in her fifteenth year she married a wealthy merchant, whose immense fortune she inherited; her love of letters - which she cherished, though but poorly educated herself - and her liberality soon made her salon the most celebrated in Paris; the encyclopédists, Diderot, D'Alembert, and Marmontel, received from her a liberal encouragement in their great undertaking; Walpole, Hume, and Gibbon were among her friends; and Stanislas Poniatowsky, who became king of Poland, acknowledged her generosity to him by styling himself her son and welcoming her royally to his kingdom.