A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/la Ferte Imbault, Maria Theresa Geoffrin Marchioness de
LA FERTE IMBAULT, MARIA THERESA GEOFFRIN MARCHIONESS DE,
Daughter of the celebrated Madame Geoffrin, was born at Pans in 1716. She married, In 1733, the Marquis de la Ferté great-grandson of the marshal of that name; and distinguished herself, not only by her literary talents, but also by her opposition to the philosophical party among the French literati of the last century, with whom her mother had been intimately connected. In 1771, the Marquis de Croismare, a man of wit, and a friend of Madame de la Ferté Imbault, founded the burlesque order of the Lanturelas, of which he appointed that lady the grand-mistress, while he was himself the grandmaster. This whimsical institution gave rise to a great many songs and lively verses; and it attracted so much attention that Catharine the Second was accustomed to advise all the Russian nobles who visited Paris, to become Lanturelas, an honour which was sought by several sovereign princes. The Marchioness drew up a series of extracts from the writings of the ancient Pagan and Christian Philosophers, for the instruction of the grand-children of Louis the Fifteenth; and she wrote a great number of letters to persons of rank and celebrity, which remain in manuscript in the hands of her husband's relations. She died at Paris, in 1791.