author
Adélaïde de Montgolfier
1789–1880
A French woman of letters and translator from the 19th century, she helped shape reading for young audiences while moving in lively literary circles. Her work ranged from essays and translations to children's books, with a clear interest in education and culture.
1 Audiobook
Piccolissima
by Adélaïde de Montgolfier
About the author
Born on November 21, 1789, in Davézieux in the Vivarais region, Adélaïde de Montgolfier was a French writer and translator who died in Paris on December 16, 1880. She was the daughter of Jacques-Étienne de Montgolfier, one of the two Montgolfier brothers linked to the early hot-air balloon, but she built a literary life of her own.
She contributed to major 19th-century periodicals including the Revue encyclopédique, the Magasin pittoresque, and the Revue des Deux Mondes. Sources also describe her as especially active in literature for children and in the education of girls; with Louise Swanton-Belloc, she co-founded La Ruche, gazette des jeunes filles, a monthly review that began in 1836 and ran until 1848.
Her published work includes original writing as well as translation, and surviving bibliographic records show a career spread across essays, educational writing, and books for younger readers. She is remembered less as a single famous title author than as a steady, curious literary presence in French print culture.