Madame Campan
Barbara Scott describes how a tutor to royal princesses and to the Bonaparte family, Henriette Campan, became a pioneer of girl's education in France.
Jeanne-Louise-Henriette, the future Madame Campan, was the eldest daughter of Edme-Jacques Genet, an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His report on the English navy brought him to the attention of the Due de Choiseul, who sent him to London as First Secretary to the Embassy to oversee the peace treaty of 1763.
Edme’s family remained at Versailles, and on his return he devoted much of his time to educating his daughters. Every evening he coached Henriette in Italian and English, which she spoke fluently, and she shared with her sister Julie lessons on the piano, harp, guitar and singing.
Family friends included the composer Albanese, Carlo Goldoni, the famous Venetian dramatist, and Jean-Francois Marmontel, whose best-selling Contes Moraux provided the model for Madame Campan’s own short stories.
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