Lenclos, Ninon de

Lenclos, Ninon de nēnôNˈ də läNklōˈ [key], 1620–1705, French beauty and wit. Her real name was Anne de Lenclos. She numbered among her many lovers and friends such eminent men as the Great Condé, La Rochefoucauld, and Saint-Évremond. She gathered in her Paris salon a circle of wits and literary figures.

See biography by E. H. Cohen (1970).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: French History: Biographies