"Beauty and the Beast" and Other Tales

Personal life

Her first marriage was in 1743 to the dancer, Antoine Grimard de Beaumont. Shortly after, she bore a daughter, named Elisabeth, In 1745, she had her marriage annulled from de Beaumont due to infidelity but kept his name.[1] There is some discrepancy with records of her marital history. Including an account of marriage in 1737 to Claude-Antoine Malter, a famous French dancer in the well-known Malter family. However, most sources acknowledge her marriage in 1743 as her first. She is cited as having an adventurous youth and much of her romantic history is not well document.[1] Before marriage, she supported herself through work until her publishing career began.

During her time among the royal courts, de Beaumont communicated regularly with influential social figures, such as Emilie du Châtelet and Françoise de Graffigny. Both women published works of their own after de Beaumont's first publications.[1] She also exchanged discussions of ideology with Voltaire, who became a frequent contributor to her Nouveau Magasin Français. Voltaire would respond with letters, essays, poems and other correspondences throughout 1760-1770.[1] Her position as a governess and writer within higher society in England and France gained her exposure to people of educated and successful reputations within her fields of interest. Being an educated woman, de Beaumont was provided opportunities to build the success of her career as a writer.

While in London, she met Thomas Tyrell, originally known as Pichon but who had to change his name once he was exiled from France. Tyrell worked with British intelligence and there is evidence that him and de Beaumont lived together until she returned to France with only her daughter Elisabeth and son-in-law Nicolas Moreau. Most of her life after returning to France is documented in her letters to Tyrell from 1763-1775, which are kept at the municipal library in Vire, France.

She made her final move to Avallon before her death. De Beaumont was known to travel often while spending her last decades in France, including trips to Paris and Spain. She was survived by her daughter, Elisabeth, son-in-law Nicolas Moreau, and six grandchildren, one of which would later give birth to her great-grandchild, Prosper Mérimée.


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