Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult, was a Franco-German romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern.
Life
Marie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, as Marie Catherine Sophie de Flavigny, the daughter of Alexander Victor François, Vicomte de Flavigny, a footloose émigré French aristocrat, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Bethmann, a German banker's daughter. The young Marie spent her early years in Germany and completed her education in a French convent after the Bourbon Restoration. She entered into an early marriage of convenience with Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult, Comte d'Agoult on 16 May 1827, thereby becoming the Comtesse d'Agoult. They had two daughters, Louise and Claire. Marie never divorced the count, even though she had left him for Franz Liszt. From 1835 to 1839, she lived with virtuosopianist and composer Franz Liszt, who was six years younger, and was then a rising concert star. She became close to Liszt's circle of friends, including Frédéric Chopin, who dedicated his 12 Études, Op. 25 to her. Liszt's "Die Lorelei", one of his very first songs, based on text by Heinrich Heine, was also dedicated to her. D'Agoult had three children with Liszt; however, she and Liszt did not marry, maintaining their independent views and other differences while Liszt was busy composing and touring throughout Europe.
Daniel, who was already a promising pianist and gifted scholar when he died of tuberculosis.
In 1876, she died in Paris, aged 70, and was buried in Division 54 of Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Works
Her first stories were published in 1841–1845. Her best-known work is the Histoire de la révolution de 1848. D'Agoult's other works include the novelNélida, Lettres Républicaines in Esquisses morales et politiques, Trois journées de la vie de Marie Stuart, Florence et Turin, Histoire des commencements de la république aux Pays-Bas, "A Catholic Mother Speaks to Her Children", and Mes souvenirs.
