Who was Suzanne Curchod, and why did Edward Gibbon end their engagement?

Suzanne Curchod was the daughter of a pastor, known for her charm and intelligence, whom Edward Gibbon met and fell in love with while living in Lausanne, Switzerland.1

Gibbon ended their engagement because his father and stepmother were implacably opposed to the match. Upon returning to England in 1758, Gibbon felt compelled to prioritize his filial duty over his romantic desires, famously writing in his Memoirs, "I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son". Following the breakup, the two remained lifelong friends, and Curchod later became well known as the wife of Jacques Necker, the French finance minister.1