Marie-Madeleine Bonafon was born on 20 October 1716 in Versailles, the daughter of Jean-Pierre de Bonafon,
écuyerto Sieur d’Albert and Marie Le Noir. She was sometimes referred to as Marie-Madeleine Bonafous d’Albert. Bonafon was educated at the Abbaye de Pentemont. At twenty-three years of age, she moved to the Palace of Versailles to serve as
femme de chambre[lady’s maid] to the Princesse Catherine-Eléonore de Mauntauban. In service there, Bonafon seems to have put her education to good use in writing novels pointedly criticizing the behaviour of those whom she served and observed. (While only the novel
Tanastèsis known to survive, several others are referred to in the legal briefs from her later arrest and incarceration.)
Bonafon’s early life would have given her
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Citation: Abrams, Barbara. "Marie-Madeleine Bonafon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 March 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14992, accessed 09 December 2024.]