Adrienne de La Fayette

Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de La Fayette (2 November 1759 – 25 December 1807), was a French marchioness. She was the daughter of Jean de Noailles and Henriette Anne Louise d'Aguesseau. On 11 April 1774, she married Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, who left France in 1776 to volunteer in the American Revolutionary War where he served under General George Washington, then later became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789.

Early life and family

The Marquis and Marquise had four children, one of whom died in infancy, and nine grandchildren:

1. Henriette du Motier (15 December 1775 – 3 October 1777), who died in infancy.
2. Anastasie Louise Pauline du Motier (1 July 1777 – 24 February 1863), who married Juste Charles César de Fay and had one daughter: Adrienne Jenny Florimonde de la Tour Maubourg (1812-1897), who married Conte Ettore Perrone di San Martino
3. Georges Washington Louis Gilbert du Motier, (24 December 1779 – 29 November 1849), who married Émilie Destutt de Tracy and had five children: Nathalie (1803), Charlotte (1805), Clémentine (1809), Oscar (1815) and Edmond (1818).
4. Marie Antoinette Virginie du Motier (17 September 1782 – 23 July 1849), who married Louis de Lasteyrie du Saillant and had three children: Mélanie (1809), Jules (1810) and Adrienne-Octavie (1813).

She was a great-granddaughter of Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, niece of Madame de Maintenon.

Imprisonment and planned execution

In 1795, the Marquise de LaFayette was imprisoned and facing execution. Elizabeth Monroe, a future First Lady of the United States and wife to James Monroe, the United States envoy to France, intervened in an attempt to save her. The day prior to La Fayette's scheduled execution, Mrs. Monroe visited the imprisoned marquise and loudly announced that she would be returning the following day. Not wanting to endanger ties with the United States, France abruptly reversed its verdict and did not execute her.

Death

The Marquise de LaFayette died on 25 December 1807 and is buried in the Picpus Cemetery in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. This cemetery also contains a mass grave where several of the Marquise's relatives were buried after being guillotined.

References

• Template:Cite EB1911
• originally written in French

Further reading

• Maurois, André (1961); Adrienne ou La vie de Madame de La Fayette, Hachette

Collections

• Letter from Adrienne de Lafayette to her Children, The 17th Brumaire, November 1794
• John Jay letter to Adrienne Lafayette, 13 August 1785
• Gouverneur Morris letter to Adrienne Lafayette, 19 December 1796
• Lafayette Family Papers, University of Maryland
• National Museum of Women in the Arts Template:Webarchive
• Généalogie de Carné, Alain de Carné en novembre 2006
• Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, Noailles Iconographical Genealogy
• The Marquis de Lafayette collection, Cleveland State University
• Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette Collection, Library of Congress