Fanny de Beauharnais' Salon :A Promoter to Light Poetry (1762-1780)

From 1762 to 1780, Countess Fanny de Beauharnais gathered around her a circle of light poets that is still little known. Her first Parisian salon, held under the auspices of Claude-Joseph Dorat, hosted among numerous personalities many men of letters, such as Colardeau, Pezay, Cubières and others, who used to dedicate their Friday nights to sociability. The whole group constituted a particular literary community, traditionally assembled under the name of “the school of Dorat”. By changing the usual point of view, I intended to reveal that Fanny de Beauharnais, who was an authoress herself, had as much as her lover a catalyst effect in promoting the community they both hosted.As a part of a larger reflection, my presentation showed that the Countess put in good use her knowledge of worldly culture to serve the literary ambitions of her guests. Besides seeking to mobilize networks of influential protectors in their favor, she also made a point of playing a role of cultural mediator and literary mentor that her position as a socialite in the Republic of Letters allowed her to hold. In doing so, Fanny de Beauharnais exceeded the simplistic function of the inspirational muse, to which some historians tended to limit her (see, for instance, Gustave Desnoiresterres Le Chevalier Dorat et les poètes légers du XVIIIe siècle, 1887).