om woods
and hills; and (2) _Campagne_, and the English "campaign" with the
restricted military meaning.
CAMPAN, JEANNE LOUISE HENRIETTE (1752-1822), French educator, the
companion of Marie Antoinette, was born at Paris in 1752. Her father,
whose name was Genest, was first clerk in the foreign office, and,
although without fortune, placed her in the most cultivated society. At
the age of fifteen she could speak English and Italian, and had gained
so high a reputation for her accomplishments as to be appointed reader
to the three daughters of Louis XV. At court she was a general
favourite, and when she bestowed her hand upon M. Campan, son of the
Secretary of the royal cabinet, the king gave her an annuity of 5000
_livres_ as dowry. She was soon afterwards appointed first lady of the
bedchamber by Marie Antoinette; and she continued to be her faithful
attendant till she was forcibly separated from her at the sacking of the
Tuileries on the 20th of June 1792. Madame Campan survived the dangers
of the Terror, but after the 9th Thermidor finding herself almost
penniless, and being thrown on her own resources by the illness of her
husband, she bravely determined to support herself by establishing a
school at St Germain. The institution prospered, and was patronized by
Hortense de Beauharnais, whose influence led to the appointment of
Madame Campan as superintendent of the academy founded by Napoleon at
Ecouen for the education of the daughters and sisters of members of the
Legion of Honour. This post she held till it was abolished at the
restoration of the Bourbons, when she retired to Mantes, where she spent
the rest of her life amid the kind attentions of affectionate friends,
but saddened by the loss of her only son, and by the calumnies
circulated on account of her connexion with the Bonapartes. She died in
1822, leaving valuable _Memoires sur la vie privee de Marie Antoinette,
suivis de souvenirs et anecdotes historiques sur les regnes de Louis
XIV.-XV._ (Paris, 1823); a treatise _De l'Education des Femmes_; and one
or two small didactic works, written in a clear and natural style. The
most noteworthy thing in her educational system, and that which
especially recommended it to Napoleon, was the place given to domestic
economy in the education of girls. At Ecouen the pupils underwent a
complete training in all branches of housework.
See Jules Flammermont, _Les Memoires de Madame de Campan_ (Paris,
1886), an
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