Madame de Staël

Madame de Staël (1766–1817) was a French-Swiss writer and intellectual whose salons and writings made her one of the most influential women of her era.

Born Anne Louise Germaine Necker, she produced novels, literary criticism, and political philosophy.

Her opposition to Napoleon led to exile, during which she wrote *De l'Allemagne*, introducing German Romanticism to French readers.

The name now evokes early feminist thought and intellectual salon culture.