Staël, (Anne-Louise-Germaine), Madame de

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Staël, (Anne-Louise-Germaine), Madame de (1766–1817) French writer. One of the most influential intellectual figures of her time, she published two proto-feminist novels, Delphine (1802) and Corinne (1807), but is best known for her works of social and aesthetic philosophy. They include A Treatise on the Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations (1796), a key text of Romanticism.

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