Madame de (Maria Geertruida van de Werken) Cambon

Born in Gouda and baptized on September 29, 1734, Margareta Geertruid van der Werken is better known as Madame de Cambon, or Margareta Geertruid de Cambon-van der Werken. She was the daughter of the Remonstrant minister Johannes van der Werken and Alida Holthenus, and later married Jacques Louis Ricateau Boncam de Cambon in 1759. Sources agree that much of her life remains only partly documented, including the place and exact date of her death, which is usually given simply as after 1796 and possibly in England.

She published from the 1750s into the 1790s and left behind a strikingly varied body of work. Early on she wrote poetry, and she later became active in The Hague as a writer and adapter of plays, including French works for the stage. She was also known for political and historical writing, and contemporary reference works describe her as a committed supporter of the House of Orange.

For many modern readers, her most lasting interest lies in her children's books. Titles such as De kleine Grandisson and De kleine Klarissa show how she used fiction to teach conduct, piety, curiosity, kindness, and respect. Her work reached English-language readers too: Young Grandison was translated from the Dutch, with alterations by Mary Wollstonecraft, helping Madame de Cambon travel well beyond the Netherlands.