Isabelle de Charrière

Isabelle de Charrière
Portrait of Isabelle de Charrière by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1771). Musée Antoine-Lécuyer, Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France
BornIsabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken
(1740-10-20)20 October 1740
Castle Zuylen, Utrecht, Netherlands
Died27 December 1805(1805-12-27) (aged 65)
Le Pontet, Colombier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Pen name
  • Belle van Zuylen
  • Belle de Zuylen
  • Zélide
  • Abbé de la Tour
Occupation
Nationality
  • Dutch
  • Swiss
Website
www.charriere.nl
www.belle-van-zuylen.eu

Isabelle de Charrière (French: [izabɛl ʃaʁjɛʁ]; née Isabella Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken; 20 October 1740  27 December 1805), also known as Madame de Charrière and in the Netherlands as Belle van Zuylen (Dutch: [ˈbɛlə vɑn ˈzœylə(n)]), was a Dutch and Swiss writer of the Enlightenment who lived the latter half of her life in Colombier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. She is now best known for her letters and novels, although she also wrote pamphlets, music and plays. She took a keen interest in the society and politics of her age, and her work around the time of the French Revolution is regarded as being of particular interest.