Cornélie-Pétronille-Bénédicte Wouters (October 14, 1737 – April 3, 1802), known as the baroness of Vassé, was a Belgian woman of letters known for her work as a translator in the 18th century.
Biography edit
Cornélie Wouters de Vassé was born in Brussels in 1737. She was one of at least seven children born to Jacques Corneille and Catherine Marguerite Wouters.[1]
She moved to Paris after the death of her husband, the wealthy baron of Vassé, and it was there that she began to write and translate for a living in 1782.[2][3] She often collaborated with her sister Marie Thérèse Wouters, who helped her translate works into French from English, including The British Plutarch by Thomas Mortimer.[1]
In 1790, she became the only woman of the period to have contributed to the public debate over Jews' rights in France, producing a pamphlet in their defense. She argued they should be given full civil and political rights, without having to give up their religious beliefs.[4]
She died in Paris in 1802.[1]
Selected works edit
Writing edit
- L’Art de corriger et de rendre les hommes constans (dialogue), 1782.
- Le Nouveau Continent (philosophical tale), 1783.
- Le Char volant, ou Voyage dans la lune (philosophical tale), 1783.
Translation edit
- Traduction du théâtre anglois depuis l’origine des spectacles jusqu’à nos jours, 12 vol., (with Marie Wouters) 1784–1787.
- La Vie des hommes illustres d’Angleterre, d’Écosse et d’Irlande, ou le Plutarque anglois, from Thomas Mortimer's The British Plutarch, 1785.
External links edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Klaus, Carrie F. (2004). "Marie Thérèse Wouters". Société Internationale Pour l'Etude des Femmes de L'Ancien Régime (in French). Archived from the original on 2011-02-24.
- ^ "Lot n° 43". La Gazette Drouot (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-25.
- ^ Henriet, Maurice (1918). "Correspondance inédite entre Thomas et Barthe (1759-1785) (suite)". Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France. 25 (3): 455–478. ISSN 0035-2411. JSTOR 40518140.
- ^ Klaus, Carrie F. (2007). "Keeping Ahead of the English? A Defence of Jews by Cornélie Wouters, Baroness of Vasse (1790)". Virtue, liberty, and toleration : political ideas of European women, 1400-1800. Jacqueline Broad, Karen Green. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-5895-0. OCLC 188072448.