Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Profession: Writer

Biography: Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont wrote the most popular version of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" in 1756. She also wrote many works aimed at educating and morally instructing young women, drawing on her own experience as a teacher and governess.

De Beaumont and her sister were educated at a convent school after their mother's death. They stayed on as teachers there from 1725-1735. Instead of becoming a nun, de Beaumont moved to work as a singing teacher for the Duke of Lorraine's children and later as a governess in London, where she began publishing fiction and nonfiction, producing around 70 volumes over her career.

In 1756, de Beaumont published her famous concise version of "Beauty and the Beast," adapted from a much longer 1740 tale. She included it and other tales in her 1758 collection "Magasin des enfans," using fairy tales to teach lessons. She also wrote novels like "Lettres de Madame du Montier" (1756).

While in London, de Beaumont interacted with Voltaire, who contributed to her magazine "Le Nouveau Magasin français" (1750-1752). She also corresponded with other famous figures like Emilie du Châtelet and Françoise de Graffigny.

De Beaumont was briefly married to Antoine Grimard de Beaumont, with whom she had a daughter, but had the marriage annulled in 1745. She later lived with Thomas Tyrell in London, and much of her later life is known from letters to him.

In 1763, de Beaumont returned to France, living first in Savoy and later moving to Avallon. She died there in 1780, survived by her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. Her great-grandchild was the writer Prosper Mérimée.

Born: April 26, 1711
Birthplace: Rouen, France
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: September 8, 1780 (aged 69)