Caroline Weber (author)

Caroline Elizabeth Weber (born 1969) is an American author and fashion historian. She is a professor of French and Comparative Literature at Barnard College within Columbia University. Her book Proust's Duchess was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Caroline Weber
Born1969 (age 51–52)
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2018)​
Academic background
EducationB.A., literature, 1991, Harvard University
MA, MPhil, PhD, French literature, 1998, Yale University
ThesisThe limits of "saying everything": terrorist suppressions and unspeakable difference in Rousseau, Sade, Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Desmoulins (1998)
Academic work
DisciplineLiterature
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Main interestsEighteenth Century French literature
Cultural history
Notable works
  • Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris
  • Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Early life and education

Weber was born in 1969.[1] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in literature (summa cum laude) from Harvard University and her PhD in French literature from Yale University.[2]

Career

After earning her PhD, Weber joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor of Romance Languages.[3] While at the University of Pennsylvania, she authored Terror and its Discontents: Suspect Words and the French Revolution[4] and co-edited Fragments of Revolution with Howard G. Lay.[5]

After seven years at the University of Pennsylvania, Weber joined the faculty at Columbia University as a professor of French and Comparative Literature.[6] While there, her book Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the French Revolution was published in 2007 and described Antoinette's life starting from her arrival from Austria into France.[7] The biographical novel focused on Antoinette's control over her image through her autonomy of fashion.[8]

While conducting research for her book Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris, Weber discovered one unknown and one lost essay by Marcel Proust about Parisian high society.[9] As she was sifting through Élisabeth Greffulhe's personal archive, Weber discovered an unfinished and unpublished essay by Proust from 1902–03 titled "The Salon of the Comtesse Greffulhe."[10] Greffulhe's husband had ordered her to not publish the essay for its vulgar contents, which she agreed to in fear of being beaten.[9] Weber used these essays to trace the lives of three high-society female models for the Duchesse de Guermantes, from childhood to adulthood, in In Search of Lost Time, Proust's novel in seven volumes.[11] Upon publishing the book, Weber was named a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography[12] and received the 2019 French Heritage Society Literary Award.[13]

Personal life

Weber is married to economist Paul Romer.[14] Their wedding occurred in 2018, the morning Romer accepted his Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[15]

References
  1. "Weber, Caroline 1969–". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  2. "Caroline Weber". barnard.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  3. "Faculty Appointments and Promotions January 1, 1999, through October 7, 1999". almanac.upenn.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. Turnovsky, Geoffrey (2003). "Terror and Its Discontents: Suspect Words in Revolutionary France (review)". L'Esprit Créateur. Johns Hopkins University Press. 43 (4): 99. doi:10.1353/esp.2010.0234.
  5. "Fragments of Revolution - Yale French Studies No. 101 (Paperback)". waterstones.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  6. "The Political Consequence of Dress". sohorep.org. October 9, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  7. Majer, Michele (2009). "Reviewed Work: Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber". Studies in the Decorative Arts. 17 (1): 220–224. doi:10.1086/652675. JSTOR 10.1086/652675.
  8. Horwell, Veronica (February 10, 2007). "Guillotine chic". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  9. Alberge, Dalya (May 26, 2018). "In search of lost manuscripts: essays reveal Proust's love of society women". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  10. Watt, Adam (November 23, 2018). "Crisis of visibility". the-tls.co.uk. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  11. Harder, Hollie. "Finding Proust's Duchess". yalereview.yale.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  12. "Finalist: Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris". pulitzer.org. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  13. Fryd, Lee (2019). "The French Heritage Society Honors Caroline Weber". hamptons.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  14. Gould Keil, Jennifer (July 31, 2019). "Nobel Prize-winning economist nabs East Village row house". New York Post. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  15. Mallozzi, Vincent M. (December 11, 2018). "Arts Meets Science and Chemistry Wins the Day". New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
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