author
Ninon de Lenclos
1620–1705
A brilliant and unconventional figure in 17th-century Paris, she became famous for her wit, independence, and lively salon. Her life has fascinated readers for centuries because it sits at the crossroads of literature, philosophy, and social history.
2 Audiobooks
Life, letters, and Epicurean philosophy of Ninon de L'Enclos, the celebrated beauty of the seventeenth century
by Ninon de Lenclos
Lettres de Mmes. de Villars, de Coulanges et de La Fayette, de Ninon de L'Enclos et de Mademoiselle Aïssé accompagnées de notices bibliographiques, de notes explicatives par Louis-Simon Auger
by marquise de Marie Gigault de Bellefonds Villars, C. E. (Charlotte Elisabeth) Aïssé, Marie-Angélique Du Gué Bagnoles Coulanges, Madame de (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne) La Fayette, Ninon de Lenclos
About the author
Born in Paris in 1620, Ninon de Lenclos was a French writer, letter-writer, and patron of the arts who became one of the most talked-about women of her time. She is often remembered as a celebrated courtesan, but that label only captures part of her story: she was also known for her intelligence, her sharp conversation, and her refusal to live by the usual expectations placed on women in 17th-century France.
She became a central figure in Parisian salon culture, gathering writers, thinkers, and prominent visitors around her. Accounts of her life describe her as deeply interested in ideas as well as pleasure, and later writers linked her with a free-thinking, skeptical outlook influenced by Epicurean thought. That mix of charm, intellect, and independence helped make her a lasting cultural figure.
Ninon de Lenclos died in Paris on October 17, 1705. Long after her lifetime, she has remained a vivid presence in biographies, essays, and popular histories, not only for the legends around her life but also for the rare example she offered of a woman shaping her own reputation in a world that did not make that easy.