Jeanne Campan

Background

Her father was the highest-ranking clerk in the foreign office (the ambassador Citizen Genet was her younger brother), and, although without fortune, placed her in the most cultivated society.

Career

In the service of Marie Antoinette before and during the French Revolution, she was afterwards headmistress of the first "Maison d"éducation de la Légion d"honneur", as appointed by Napoleon in 1807. She was a general favourite at court, and when in 1774 she bestowed her hand upon Monsieur Campan, son of the secretary of the royal cabinet, the king gave her an annuity of 5,000 livres as dowry. Madame Campan was made First Lady of the Bedchamber by Marie Antoinette in 1786.

And she continued to attend on her until the 10 August 1792 storming of the Tuileries Palace, in which she was forcibly separated from the queen.

With her own house pillaged and burned that day, Henriette sought asylum in the countryside. She survived the Reign of Terror, but after the 9th of Thermidor, finding herself almost penniless, and being thrown on her own resources by the illness of her spouse, Madame Campan determined to support herself by establishing a school at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Henriette Campan died in 1822, leaving valuable Memoirs of the Private of Marie Antoinette (published 1823 (posthumously), Paris, 3 volumes), subtitled To which are Added Personal Recollections Illustrative of the Reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI (French: Mémoires sur la vie privée de Marie Antoinette, suivis de souvenirs et anecdotes historiques sur les règnes de Louis XIV – XV). A treatise De l"Education des Femmes (public 1824).

And one or two small didactic works, written in a clear and natural style.

The most noteworthy thing in her educational system, and that which especially recommended it to Napoleon, was the place given to domestic economy in the education of girls. At Écouen the pupils underwent a complete training in all branches of housework.

Achievements

• By the age of fifteen she could speak English and Italian, and had gained so high a reputation for her academic accomplishments as to be appointed reader to Louis XV"s daughters (Mesdames Victoire, Sophie and Louise) in 1768, and lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette in 1770.

Membership

The institution prospered, and was patronized by Hortense de Beauharnais, whose influence led to the appointment of Madame Campan as superintendent of the academy founded by Napoleon at Écouen for the education of the orphaned daughters of members of his Légion d"honneur in 1807.