Daniel Stern

Born Marie Catherine Sophie de Flavigny in Frankfurt in 1805, she became known in French literary life as the Countess d'Agoult and, in print, as Daniel Stern. She wrote novels, essays, and historical works, and is especially remembered as a serious observer of politics and society rather than simply a figure of salon culture.

Her most noted work is Histoire de la Révolution de 1848, a major account of the revolution that shook France and Europe. She also hosted an important Paris salon, where writers, artists, and thinkers met, and she built a reputation for clear-minded, independent judgment.

She is often mentioned for her relationship with Franz Liszt, but her own writing stands firmly on its own. Under the name Daniel Stern, she created work that was engaged, intelligent, and unusually authoritative for a woman writing about public life in the 19th century.