Maria Du Fresnay
French writer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marie Du Fresnay, aka Maria du Fresnay, née Daminois (1809–1892), was a French writer.
She was the mistress of Honoré de Balzac, to whom she gave a daughter, Marie-Caroline Du Fresnay[1] (b. 4 June 1834), the only child of the French author. Her own mother was the playwright and novelist Adèle Daminois.
She was also the mother of French knight Ange Du Fresnay and the ancestor of French writer and silent film director Guy Du Fresnay as well as of French contemporary essayist and economist Philippe Du Fresnay.
Her life inspired Honoré de Balzac's most famous novel Eugénie Grandet (1833), which depicted in part her family,[2] who were living at the time in the French city of Sartrouville.[3]