Suzanne le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau

Suzanne le Peletier (also known as Louise-Suzanne le Peletier) is the daughter of Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau. After the death of her father, she became the "Daughter of the State" with her new father being the National Assembly.[1]

Suzanne le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau
Portrait of Suzanne Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau by Jacques-Louis David (1804)

Suzanne le Peletier was adopted by the nation of France at the age of 11 after the death of her father Louis-Michel le Peletier. Adoption by the state meant that she was emancipated from her uncles, which later became an issue to them because le Peletier wanted to marry a Dutchman called Jean-François De Witt who was debt-ridden. Due to their lack of legal power over her, they were unable to prevent her marriage. Her uncles brought their concerns to the French legislature and asked the state to fulfill its role as her father and stop le Peletier from denationalizing herself by marrying a Dutchman.

This case brought le Peletier into the public light. The public debated upon the powers of national adoption and the defining factors of family and state relations. Her engagement to a foreigner also led to public debates upon citizenship and its significance, especially for women and whether or not marriage impacts their citizenship.

Debaters upon the case brought up contradictory points. Those who supported her talked about father-centered families with a subordinate wife and children yet they stated that she did not need parental control. Instead, they supported le Peletier by emphasizing individual rights and the rationality a young woman has. Those who supported her uncles reminded that she was "first daughter of the republic" and that she was a symbol of being French and revolutionary. Despite that, they still spoke of her incapability of being an independent citizen of France.[1]

Marriage

Le Peletier and De Witt got married and shortly thereafter, on March 22, 1802, were granted a divorce by the justice of the peace.[1] In 1806, she married her cousin Léon Le Peletier de Mortefontaine.[2]

References
  1. Heuer, Jennifer. “Adopted Daughter of the French People: Suzanne Lepeletier and Her Father, the National Assembly.” French Politics, Culture & Society, vol. 17, no. 3/4, 1999, pp. 31–51., www.jstor.org/stable/42843080.
  2. "Portrait of Suzanne Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
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