The woman whom Napoleon hated most… Madame de Stael (1766–1817)
The brilliant personality of Madame de Stael made her the most famous woman in Europe at the dawning of the nineteenth century. Although her parents were from Geneva, she was actually born in Paris on 22 April 1766 and her name was Germaine Necker. Her father was Jacques Necker, a wealthy Genevese banker, and hence she was brought up in elegant Parisian luxury. Although a foreigner and a Protestant, her father was on several occasions appointed to manage the…
