Lambert, Anne-Thérèse de Marguenat de Courcelles, marquise de (1647-1733). Her learning and literary discernment were celebrated, but Lambert began to frequent the salons only upon her widowhood in 1686. After prolonged litigation to settle her husband's estate, in 1710 she opened the salon that established her as Rambouillet's heir and inaugurated the Enlightenment's salon tradition. Her assembly proved so influential that half the elections to the Académie Française were allegedly sealed in its discussions. She wrote extensively and is best known for Avis d'une mère à sa fille and Avis d'une mère à son fils (1726-8), composed for her children, and for Réflexions sur les femmes (1728).
[Joan Dejean]
