author
Adélaïde de Montgolfier
1789–1880
A French writer and translator from the Montgolfier family, she helped shape 19th-century reading for young audiences. Her work ranged from fiction and translation to magazine writing and educational publishing.
1 Audiobook
Piccolissima
by Adélaïde de Montgolfier
About the author
Born on November 21, 1789, in Davézieux in the Vivarais region of France, Adélaïde de Montgolfier became known as a woman of letters and translator. She was the daughter of Jacques-Étienne de Montgolfier, one of the two brothers associated with the invention of the hot-air balloon, but she built her own literary path in the world of books and periodicals.
French reference sources describe her as active in literary and educational writing, and she is especially linked with work for younger readers and girls' education. She co-founded La Ruche, gazette des jeunes filles with Louise Swanton-Belloc, and she also contributed to periodicals including the Revue encyclopédique and the Magasin pittoresque.
She died in Paris on December 16, 1880. Though not widely known today, she stands out as one of the many 19th-century women who helped expand reading, translation, and literary culture in France.