Marie de Gournay

Who was Marie de Gournay?

Marie de Gournay was a French writer, who wrote a novel and a number of other literary compositions, including two protofeminist works, The Equality of Men and Women and The Ladies' Grievance. In her novel Le Promenoir de M. de Montaigne qui traite de l’amour dans l’œuvre de Plutarque she explored the dangers women face when they become dependent on men. She insisted that women should be educated.

She was also an editor and commentator of Michel de Montaigne. Having read his works in her teens, Gournay travelled to meet him and eventually became his "fille d'alliance". She receives her name from the Château de Gournay in Gournay-sur-Aronde that her father, Guillaume Le Jars, bought shortly before dying in 1578.

After Montaigne's death, Gournay edited the third edition of the Essays in 1595, and it is for this that she is best known.