Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de Condorcet
(1764 - 1822)

This person was submitted by Edith Kuiper

Categorisation

Country: Germany
Language of publication: French
Subjects: economic independence, gender & equality, household economy, industries, political rights, production, relations & emotions
Genre: books, correspondence/letters, translations
Gender: woman
Decennia of publications: 1780 - 1800
Friends: Anne Turgot, Olympes des Gouges, Mdme necher de Stael,
Love: Marquis de Condorcet,

Full biography

Sophie de Grouchy was born as daughter of Francoise Jacques Marquis de Grouchy who worked for Louis de XV and Marie Gilberte Henriette Fréteau. She married Marie Jean Antoine Caritat, marquis de Condorcet, a famous mathematician and social philosopher in 1786.

She organized a famous salon in Hotel des Monnaies at the Rue de Lille, that was attended by, among many others, Marquis de Beccaria, Anne Turgot, Olympes des Gouges and Mdme Necker de Staël. This salon played an important role in the Girondin movement that stresses the rights of women. She translated Adam Smith’sTheory of Moral Sentiments (1759) en added eight letters commenting on this work.

Sophie and her husband were active in the circles of the Gerondin, and he was declared a traitor by the Jacobin. He went into hiding in 1791 and eventually was captured. After his imprisonment, he took his own life in March 1794. Sophie De Grouchy survived by opening a shop. In 1799 her situation improved and she continued her salons.

Her translation of The Theory of Moral Sentiments has been the standard translation into French for decades. The eight letters on sympathy have escaped the attention from historians of economic thought until recently. No translation of these letters into English have yet been published.

Source

Forget, Evelyn (2003) “Cultivating Sympathy: Sophie Condorcet’s Letters on Sympathy, in Chris Nyland and Robert Dimand (eds) (2003) The Status of Women in Classical Economic Thought, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, pp. 142-164.
Wikipedia France
aei Canada

Bibliography

• 1798 – Lettres sure la sympathie; suivies des Lettres d’amour.
• 1798 – Translation of Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759): Théorie des sentiments moreaux, ou, Essai analytique sur les principles des jugemens que portent naturellement les hommes, d’abord sur les actions des autres et ensuite sur leurs propres actions, traduit de l’anglois sur la septième et dernière edition par Marie-Louise-Sophie de Grouchy Condorcet, Marquise, Paris, F. Buisson.

Texts

No texts available

Web resources

Sophie de Grouchy website
Wikipedia
aei
Geneablog.org

Secondary literature

• Madeleine Arnold -Tétard (2003) Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de Condorcet: la dame de coeur, Paris, Christian.
• Henri Valentino (1950) Madame de Condorcet; ses amis at ses amours, 1764-1822, Paris, Perrin.
• Evelyn Forget (2003) “Cultivating Sympathy: Sophie Condorcet’s Letters on Sympathy", Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar

Libraries in which you can find work of Sophie de Grouchy, marquise de Condorcet

Arnold Heertje Library, Amsterdam