OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Smith, Sarah Louisa P.

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SMITH, SARAH LOUISA P.,
Was born at Detroit, in 1811, while her maternal grandfather, Major-General William Hull, so well known for his patriotism and Ms misfortunes, was governor of the territory of Michigan. Her father's name was Hickman; he died when Louisa was an infant; and her mother, returning to her own home at Newton, Massachusetts, there educated her two daughters. The uncommon quickness of talent exhibited by Louisa, soon attracted the attention of her instructors. She had a most wonderful memory, and gathered knowledge without any apparent effort—yet was she ever among the most active in mental pursuits. And the ease with which she acquired information was not more remarkable than the modesty which accompanied her superiority. She began to write when a mere child, and these juvenile productions were often so excellent, as to elicit great commendation from her family and their confidential friends; yet this praise never fostered pride or self-confidence in the youthful poetess. She wrote from the spontaneous overflowing of her own heart, which seemed filled with thoughts of beauty, and all tender and sweet emotions. By the persuasion of her friends, she was induced to send some of her effusions, anonymously, to different periodicals. These were greatly admired, and often reprinted. Before she was fifteen, her name had become known, and she was distinguished as a young lady of great intellectual powers.
In 1828, Miss Hickman was married to Mr. S. J. Smith, then the editor of a literary periodical in Providence. Soon after her marriage, her husband published a volume of her poems; some collected from the literary journals, and others written as the book was passing through the press. She was then but "careless seventeen," as she says of herself; and it was a hazardous experiment to give a volume of poetry, which must have been, however highly imbued with genius, more fraught with the feelings and sentiments of others, than with those teachings of truth and nature which experience in the real world can only bestow. But the book was popular; and though she would, had she lived till the maturity of her powers, no doubt greatly excelled her early writings, yet, as the blossoms of an original and extraordinary genius, these poems will ever be admired.
She died, February, 1882, in the twenty-first year of her age.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Sommery, N. Fontelle de

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SOMMERY, N. FONTELLE DE,
A lady whose parentage is unknown, as she was secretly entrusted to the care of a convent. She possessed great powers of mind, with inoffensive gaiety. Her society was sought by philosophers and men of letters. She died about 1792, at an advanced age. She wrote, "Doutes sur lea Opinions reçue, dans la Society" and "L'Oreillo," an Asiatic romance.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Smith, Sarah Lanman

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SMITH, SARAH LANMAN,
Was born in Norwich, Connecticut, June 18th., 1802. Her father was Jabez Huntington, Esq. Her biographer. Rev. Edward W. Hooker, says of her early years, after describing her sufferings from ill health during childhood, and also from the severity of a school-mistress, which circumstances, added to the death of her mother, had the effect to bring out great decision and sometimes wilfulness of character:
"But with these things in childhood, showing that she was a subject of that native depravity in which all the human race are 'guilty before God,' she exhibited, as she was advancing in the years of youth, many of the virtues which are useful and lovely; and probably went as far in those excellences of natural character on which many endeavour to build their hope of salvation, as almost any unconverted persons do; carrying with her, however, the clear and often disturbing conviction, that the best virtues which she practised were not holiness, nor any evidence of fitness for heaven.
In 1833, Miss Huntington was married to the Rev. Eli Smith, of the American mission at Beyroot, Syria; and she went to that remote region as the "help meet" for a humble missionary. She was singularly fitted for this important station, having been a voluntary missionary to the miserable remnant of a tribe of the Mohegan Indians; she had thus tested her powers and strengthened her love for this arduous work in the cause of doing good. Her letters to her father and friends, while reflecting on this important step of a foreign mission, will be intensly interesting to those who regard this consecration of woman to her office of moral teacher as among the most efficient causes of the success of the Gospel. The literary merits of her writings are of a high order; we venture to say, that, compared with the "Journals" and "Letters" of the most eminent men in the missionary station, those of Mrs. Smith will not be found inferior in merits of any kind. Her intellect had been cultivated; she could, therefore, bring her reasoning powers, as well as her moral and religious sentiments, to bear on any subject discussed.
Mrs. Smith accompanied her husband to Beyroot, and was indeed his "help" and good angel. She studied Arabic; established a school for girls; exerted her moral and Christian influence with great effect on the mixed population of Moslems, Syrians, Jews; visiting and instructing the mothers as well as the children; working with all her heart and soul, mind and might, and the time of her service soon expired. She died September 30th., 1836, aged thirty-four; a little over three years from the time she left her own dear land.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Sontag, Henrietta

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SONTAG, HENRIETTA,
A very distinguished singer, was born at Coblentz, in 1808. Her parents were actors, and Henrietta was brought on the stage at Frankfort when she was only five years old. In 1824, she performed at Berlin with great applause, and also at London and Paris. It was as a vocalist that she acquired her celebrity. Her voice was very clear and flexible, her acting fine, and her personal appearance attractive. About 1830, she married and left the stage.
For nearly twenty years this lady was heard of as the wife of Count Rossi, a nobleman of distinguished rank, who was, at his marriage, the Sardinian minister at the court of Berlin. Some years afterwards he was sent ambassador to Russia, and during the missions of St. Petersburg, as well as at Berlin, Madame Sontag (now Countess Rossi) was received at court with the greatest distinction, and de​lighted the circles of the king and the emperor by the occasional display of her genius;—at St. Petersburgh she eclipsed all the female vocalists. In private life, her virtues and accomplishments rendered her respectable and admired. She was naturally benevolent, and her charities were immense. But in consequence of those reverses to which the most eminent have been liable in these revolutionary days, she has found it necessary again to resort to her talents as an artist. London was the place chosen for her reappearance. She sustained the character of Linda, in July, 1849, and was received with the warmest and most enthusiastic applause. As an actress she is undeniably improved;—it is impossible for a girl of twenty, whatever be her genius, to have that knowledge of human nature, and of the passions, which are requisite for the proper conception of tragic characters. Sometimes this mental finish arrives when nature begins to withdraw the exterior charms so necessary to impersonate the heroine. In the case of Madame Sontag (she resumes her own name, professionally,) this drawback does not exist; she enjoys perfect health and vigour, her person is elegantly formed, and her graceful ladylike demeanour is peculiarly attractive. Her voice seems to have retained every element of power and beauty. It is a pure soprano, both in tone and in compass. Her early advantages of education were great; and during her retirement she has never ceased to cultivate herself in private, thus evincing the true greatness of her genius by its constant activity.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Siries, Violante Beatrice

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SIRIES, VIOLANTE BEATRICE,
Was born at Florence, in 1710. She was a pupil of Giovanna Fratellini, who at that time lived in high esteem in Florence; by whose instruction she made an' extraordinary proficiency in water-colour and crayon painting, till she was sixteen, when she went with her father to Paris, where he was appointed goldsmith to the King of France. Here she continued for five years, and studied ​under an eminent Flemish artist She painted portraits of several of the nobility with such beauty and fidelity, that she was invited to take likenesses of the royal family; but she was under the necessity of declining this honour, as she was about to return with her father to Florence, where he had a very lucrative employment conferred on him by the Grand Duke, who professed great 'esteem for this artist, and ordered her portrait to be placed in the gallery of artists at Florence. To perpetuate her father's memory, she introduced his portrait with her own, giving at once a proof of her filial piety and distinguished merit She painted equally well in oil and with crayons; but most of her works are in oil, and are principally from historical subjects. She also painted fruit and flowers; and executed every subject with extraordinary taste, truth, and delicacy. She died in 1760.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Cockburn, Catharine

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COCKBURN, CATHARINE,
The daughter of Captain David Trotter, a Scotch gentleman in the navy, was born in 1679. She gave early proofs of a poetic imagination by the production of three tragedies and a comedy, which were all acted; the first of them in her seventeenth year. She had also a turn for philosophy; and she engaged in controversy, defending Mr. Locke's opinions against Dr. Burnett, of the Charter-House, and Dr. Holdsworth. She was induced to turn Roman Catholic when very young, but renounced that faith in her riper years.
In 1708, she married Mr. Cockburn, the son of an eminent Scotch divine, and was precluded for twenty years from pursuing her studies, by the cares of a family, which she nevertheless resumed with ardour. Mrs. Cockburn died in 1749; her works are collected in two octavo volumes.
She wrote, among her plays, "Agnes de Castro;" "The Fatal Friendship;" "Love at a Loss, or Most Votes carry it;" and "The Unhappy Penitent." She also wrote several poems and controversial essays.
That she was scrupulous never to neglect any womanly duty, gives added importance to her example of improvement. Her familiar letters show this happy talent of biding her time.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Coleridge, Sara Henry

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COLERIDGE, SARA HENRY,
An English poetess, daughter of the distinguished poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and wife of his nephew, Henry Nelson Coleridge, well known for his contributions to classical learning, and as editor of his uncle's posthumous works; this lady has shown herself worthy of her birth-right as a "poet's daughter," and of her station as the bosom-companion of an eminent scholar.
The first work of Mrs. Coleridge was a translation of the "History of the Abipones," from the Latin of Dobrizhoffer; her next was a beautiful fairytale, called "Phantasmion," published in 1837, and deservedly admired as an exquisite creation of feminine genius. Besides these, she has written poems, evincing talent of no common order. A distinguished critic remarks thus, concerning her:—"With ​an imagination like a prism shedding rainbow changes on her thoughts, she shows study without the affectation of it, and a Greek-like closeness of expression."
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Clotilde, Queen of the Goths

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CLOTILDE,
The unfortunate Queen of the Goths, was daughter of Clovis and Clotilde of France. She married Amalaric, who was an Arian, while she was a pious Catholic. She was so persecuted by her subjects for her faith, that her life was in danger, while her bigoted husband united with her foes in abusing her. She at last applied to her three brothers, who then governed the divided kingdom of the Franks, sending to Chilperic, King of Paris, her eldest brother a handkerchief saturated with the blood drawn from her by the blows of her barbarous husband. Her brothers took up arms to revenge her cause, and in this bloody war the cruel Amalaric was slain. Clotilde returned to her native France, and died soon after, about 535. She was a pious and amiable woman.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Cochrane, Grizel

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COCHRANE, GRIZEL,
Was the daughter of Sir John Cochrane, of Ochiltree, Scotland, second son of the first Earl of Dundonald. Her father being taken prisoner in July, 1685, and confined in the Tolbooth, at Edinburgh, was, in consequence of participating in the rebellion against James the Second, condemned to death for high treason, and his execution was only delayed till the death-warrant should arrive from London. In the mean time the Earl of Dundonald was making every exertion to obtain his pardon by interesting the king's confessor in his son's favour. But this required some time, and the death-warrant was daily expected. Grizel Cochrane, though only eighteen at the time, determined to prevent its arrival. Disguising herself as a servant-girl, and mounting her own horse, on whose speed she could rely, she, by riding two days, reached the abode of her nurse, who lived on the English side of the Tweed. Here attiring herself in her foster-brother's clothes, and arming herself ​with pistols, she proceeded to a small public-house near Belford, where the postman was accustomed to stop for a few hours to rest. Sending the landlady out on some errand, Grizel stepped to the room where the postman was sleeping, but his mail bags were under his head, and could not be touched without awaking him. However, she succeeded in drawing the load out of the pistols, which lay near him, before the woman returned, and then overtaking him about half-way between Belford and Berwick, she succeeded in obtaining the mail-bags, in which she discovered her father's death-warrant. Destroying this, and several other obnoxious papers, she re assumed her female dress, and returned to Edinburgh. As it then took eight days for communications to pass from London to Edinburgh, the sixteen days Grizel thus gained for her father were sufficient to allow the Earl of Dundonald to obtain his son's pardon. Miss Cochrane afterwards married Mr. Ker, of Morriston, in the county of Berwick.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Comstock, Sarah Davis

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COMSTOCK, SARAH DAVIS,
Was the daughter of Robert S. Davis, of Brookline, Massachusetts. She early became a member of the Baptist church in her native town, and gave full evidence of being imbued with the self-denying spirit of a Christian. The Rev. Grover S. Comstock, a clergyman in the Baptist Church, selected her as his companion in the life of toil and hardship he had chosen as a missionary to Burmah, and she faithfully fulfilled the task she then undertook in a true martyr-spirit. In June, 1834, Mr. and Mrs. Comstock were publicly consecrated to the work in Boston, and sailed immediately for their field of labour, which they reached on the 6th. of December, in the same year. In his labours between Arracan and Burmah, Mr. Comstock found his wife of great assistance. Whenever women came near the house, she would instantly leave her occupations, ​if possible, to tell them of the Saviour; she collected a school, translated the Scripture Catechism, and administered both medicine and advice to the sick, besides teaching her own children and attending to household duties. In the evening, whenever she could be out, she might often be found with several native women collected around her, to whom she was imparting religious knowledge.
Mrs. Comstock's faith was strong that ere long Arracan would, as a country, acknowledge God as its ruler, and in this expectation, she laboured until death came to lead her away to her infinite reward. She died of a disease peculiar to the climate, on the 28th, of April, 1843, leaving four children, two of whom had previously been sent to America for instruction; the other two soon followed her to the grave. Nothing could exceed the sorrow expressed by the natives for her loss. More than two thousand came on the day after her death to share their grief with her afflicted husband, who survived her loss but for a few months.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Coligni, Henrietta, Countess de la Luze

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COLIGNI, HENRIETTA, COUNTESS DE LA LUZE,
Famous for her poetry, which was printed with the works of Pellison and others, in 1695 and 1725, in two duodecimo volumes, was the daughter of Gaspar de Coligni, Marshal of France, and Colonel-general of infantry. She married, when very young, Thomas Hamilton, a Scotch nobleman, and, after his death, his Count de la Luze, of an illustrious house in Champagne.
The jealousy of her second husband embittered her life, and his severities towards her induced her to abjure Protestantism and embrace the Roman Catholic faith, which caused Queen Christina of Sweden to say "That the Countess had changed her religion, that she might not see her husband, neither in this world nor the next." Their antipathy at last became so great that the Countess offered her husband twenty-five thousand crowns to disannul the marriage, which he accepted, and it was dissolved by parliament. She then devoted herself to the study of poetry; and her writings, which were principally in the elegiac strain, were much admired. Her other works were songs, madrigals, and odes. The wits of her time ascribed to her the majesty of Juno, with Minerva's wit, and Venus' beauty. She died at Paris, March 10th., 1673.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Colonna, Vittoria

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COLONNA, VITTORIA,
Daughter of Fabricio, Duke of Paliano, was born at Marino, in 1490, and married in 1507, Francesco, Marquis of Pescara. Her poems have often been published, and are highly and deservedly admired. Her husband died in 1525, and she determined to spend the remainder of her life in religious seclusion, although various proposals of marriage were made to her. Her beauty, talents, and virtue, were extolled by her contemporaries, among others by Michael Angelo and Ariosto. She died in 1547, at Rome. She was affianced to the Marquis of Pescara in childhood, and as they grew up, a very tender affection increased with their years. Congenial in tastes, of the same age, their union was the model of a happy marriage. Circumstances shewed whose mind was of the firmer texture and higher tone. Francesco having exhibited extraordinary valour and generalship at the battle of Pavia, was thought of importance enough to be bribed; a negociation was set on foot to offer him the crown of Naples, if he would betray the sovereign to whom he had sworn fealty. The lure was powerful, and Francesco lent a willing ear to these propositions, when Vittoria came to the aid of his yielding virtue. She sent him that remarkable letter, where, among other things, she says, "Your virtue may raise you above the glory of being king. The sort of honour that goes down to our children with real lustre is derived from our deeds and qualities, not from power or titles. For myself, I do not wish to be the wife of a king, but of a general who can make himself superior to the greatest king, not only by courage, but by magnanimity, and superiority to any less elevated motive than duty."
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Clotilde, wife of Clovis

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CLOTILDE,
Wife of Clovis, King of France, was the daughter of Chilperic, third son of Gandive, King of Burgundy. Gandive, dying in 470, left his kingdom to his four sons, who were for three years engaged in a constant contest to obtain the entire control of the country. At length the two elder princes succeeded. Chilperic and Godemar were murdered, Chilperic's first wife was drowned, his two sons killed, and Cotilde, still very young, confined in a castle. Clovis, hearing of her beauty, virtues, and misfortunes, and besides wishing to have an excuse for extending his dominions, sent to demand her in marriage of her uncle, who was afraid to refuse the alliance, though he foresaw the disasters it might bring on his country. Clotilde was married to Clovis in 493, at Soissons. She then devoted her whole life to the fulfilment of two great designs; one was to ​convert her husband, still a pagan, to the christian faith; and the other to revenge on her uncle Gondebaud, the deaths of her father, mother, and brothers. She at length succeeded in the first object, and Clovis was baptized in 496, together with his sister Albofiede and three thousand warriors, on the occassion of a victory he obtained through the intercession of the god of Clotilde, as he thought. Clovis next turned his arms against Gondebaud, and conquered him, but left him in possession of his kingdom. Clovis died in 511, and Clotilde retired to Tours, but used all her influence to induce her three sons to revenge her injuries still more effectually; and in a battle with the Burgundians her eldest and best-beloved son Chlodomir was slain. He left three young sons, of whom Clotilde took charge, intending to educate them, and put them in possession of their father's inheritance. She brought them with her to Paris, when her two remaining sons obtained possession of them, and sent to her to know whether they should place them in a monastery or put them to death. Overcome by distress, Clotilde exclaimed, "Let them perish by the sword rather than live ignominiously in a cloister." The two elder children were killed, but the younger one was saved and died a priest. After this catastrophe, Clotilde again retired to Tours, where she passed her time in acts of devotion. She died in 545. She was buried at Paris, by the side of her husband and St. Genevieve, and was canonized after her death.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Comnenus, Anna

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COMNENUS, ANNA,
Daughter to the Greek Emperor Alexius Comnenus, flourished about 1118, and wrote fifteen books on the life and actions of her father, which she called "The Alexiad." Eight of these books were published by Hicscbelius, in 1610, and the whole of them, with a Latin version, in 1651; to another edition of which, in 1670, the learned Charles du Fresne added historical and philological notes.
The authors of the "Journal des Savans," for 1075, have spoken as follows of this learned and accomplished lady. "The elegance with which Anna Comnenus has described the life and actions of her father, and the strong and eloquent manner with which she has set them off, are so much above the ordinary understanding of women, that one is almost ready to doubt whether she was indeed the author of those books. It is certain that we cannot read her descriptions of countries, towns, rivers, mountains, battles, sieges; her reflections upon particular events; the judgments she passes on human actions; and the digressions she makes on many occasions, without perceiving that she must have been very well skilled in grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics, physic, and divinity; all of which is very uncommon with her sex."
# A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists/Algarotti, Count Francesco

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​Algarotti, Count Francesco, Italian writer. B. Dec. 11, 1712. Ed. Rome and ​Bologna Universities. At Paris, in 1732, Algarotti met, and became a friend of, Voltaire, and joined the Deistic school. He wrote a manual of Newtonian physics for women (Il Newtonianismo per le dame, 1733) and a number of greatly esteemed volumes on art, philosophy, poetry, physics, and history. Frederick the Great attracted him to his court of learning and made him Count and Chamberlain (1747). Augustus III of Saxony appointed him Councillor of War. His writings (10 vols., 1778-84) very freely express his Deism; and Cardinal Ganganelli (afterwards Pope Clement XIV), who greatly admired him, tried in vain to convert him. "You are," the Cardinal wrote, " one of those rare men whom one would fain love even beyond the grave" (Von Reumont's Ganganelli, 1847, Br. lxxii). There is a good recent biography of Algarotti by E. Northcott (F. Algarotti, 1917). Frederick the Great erected a monument to him at Pisa. D. May 3, 1764.