Louise Colet

Louise Colet (born August 15, 1810, Aix-en-Provence, France—died March 9, 1876, Paris) was a French poet and novelist, as noted for her friendships with leading men of letters as for her own work.

Daughter of a businessman, she married a musician, Hippolyte Colet, in 1834, and published her first poetry, “Fleurs du Midi,” in 1836. Her Paris salon became a meeting place for literary lights, notably Gustave Flaubert, with whom she had a stormy eight-year liaison, during which he composed his Lettres addressed to Mme Colet under the guise of “The Muse.” Their estrangement was followed by her bitter novel Lui (1859; “Him”), which caused a sensation. Among her other intimates were the poets Alfred de Musset and Alfred de Vigny and the philosopher Victor Cousin, who through his official connections helped her to gain prizes and a pension. Her other novels include La Jeunesse de Mirabeau (1841; “Mirabeau’s Youth”) and Les Coeurs brisés (1843; “Broken Hearts”). Among her better known works in verse are Penserosa (1840); Ce qui est dans le coeur des femmes (1852; “In Women’s Hearts”); Ce qu’on rêve en aimant (1854; “What One Dreams in Love”); and Le Poème de la femme (“The Woman’s Poem”).