Women and Independence in Latin America

An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Françoise de Graffigny (d'Issembourg d'Happoncourt, Grafigny)

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: White

Events:

1695  -  Nancy  -  Not applicable  -  She was born in Lorraine.
1712  -  Nancy  -  Unknown  -  She married François Hugent.
1738  -  Paris  -  Unknown  -  She moved here in 1738 and wrote to support herself.
1745  -  Paris  -  Unknown  -  She wrote a book of short stories, Nouvelle espagnole.
1747  -  Paris  -  Unknown  -  She wrote Lettres d'une Péruvienne.
1750  -  Paris  -  Unknown  -  She wrote a play, Cénie.
1758  -  Paris  -  Unknown  -  Died

Connections:

Enlightenment ideas
Women workers
Women's rights
Writers (women) novelists
Writers (women) others

Texts:
1747 - Letters from a Peruvian Woman
1823 - Cartas peruanas escritas en frances por Madama de Grafigny

Biography:
She was born in 1695 in Lorraine with the name Françoise d´Issembourg d´Happoncourt. She married François Hugenot in 1712 and took the name Graffigny from one of his estates. They legally separated after he had embezzled their collective wealth. In 1738 she moved to Paris where she wrote stories and plays to support herself. Nouvelle espagnole (1745) and her plays Cénie (1750) and La fille d'Aristide. She also wrote stories to educate children at the Vienna Court. Her novel, Lettres d'une Péruvienne was published in 1747. It tells the story of an Inca princess, Zilia, through her letters to her betrothed Aza, who is taken to France and educated in ideas of the enlightenment. The novel was very popular in the hundred years following its publication and it had over 130 editions, reprints and translations. Including one 1823 edition into Spanish, with Aza's letters to Zilia included. She died in 1758. (DeJean, ix-xii)

References:

Graffigny, Françoise (1993) Letters from a Peruvian Woman
Grafigny, Françoise (1823) Cartas peruanas escritas en frances por Madama de Grafigny