A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Helvetius, Madame
HELVETIUS, MADAME,
Was daughter of Compte Lignville, and married, in 1751, Claude Adrien Helvétius, who afterwards became celebrated for his talents. Madame Helvétius was very beautiful and accomplished. Being the niece of Madame Graffigny, by whom she was brought up, she had been educated with great care. Helve'tins was passionately fond of his wife, and after their marriage they lived chiefly in retirement at Voré, enjoying the pure pleasures of domestic life. After his decease, which occurred in 1771, Madame Helvétius removed to Auteuil, where her house became the resort of the most distinguished literati and artists of the time. Among other great men. Dr. Benjamin Franklin was a frequent visitor and a warm friend of Madame Helvétius. She was then far advanced in years; but her good sense, cheerful kindness, and highly cultivated mind, rendered her the favourite companion of intelligent men. She is an example of the superiority of cultivated intellect over personal beauty; her youthful charms were soon gone; her mental graces improved to the last, and made her society sought and her friendship valued as long as she lived.