Louise Cavelier Levesque (1703–1745)

Louise Levesque, née Cavelier, was born in Rouen, France, the daughter of a prosecutor at the parlement de Normandie. She received a good education and became a serious scholar. At age 20, she married a royal gendarme named Levesque. The couple lived in Paris, where she was introduced to a number of distinguished writers. She began to write herself, publishing acclaimed poetry and other works in various genres, including novels, short stories, plays. and the libretto for an opera. Her novel Le Prince des Aigues-Marines (The Prince of the Aqua Marines, 1744), is considered the first fantasy tale published by a Frenchwoman.