Front Page Authors (by Period) Germaine de Staël

Germaine de Staël

1766 - 1817

About the Author

Madame Germaine de Staël (née Necker) (1766-1817) was the daughter of the last Controller-General of France before the Revolution and was famous for her novels, social analysis, and history writing. She played an active role in French politics during the 1790s until she ran afoul of Napoleon. Her salon at the family estate on Lake Geneva, “Coppet”, was a center for liberal opposition to Napoleon and included Benjamin Constant. She wrote one of the first histories of the French Revolution, defending the principles of 1789 and limited constitutional government.

In The Library:

• author: Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution (LF ed.) (2008)
• author: Considérations sur les principaux événemens de la Révolution française, 3 vols. (1818)
• author: Considérations sur les principaux événemens de la Révolution française, vol. 1 (1818)
• author: Considérations sur les principaux événemens de la Révolution française, vol. 2 (1818)
• author: Considérations sur les principaux événemens de la Révolution française, vol. 3 (1818)

Quotations:

• Madame de Staël argues that Napoleon was able to create a tyrannical government by pandering to men’s interests, corrupting public opinion, and waging constant war (1817) (23 March, 2010)
• Madame de Staël on the tyrant Napoleon (1818) (14 December, 2011)
• Germaine de Staël on the indestructible love of liberty (1818) (16 July, 2012)