Marquise de Pompadour

Marquise de Pompadour, née Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764), influential mistress of Louis XV, King of France, known for her patronage of art and literature. She was born in Paris on December 29, 1721. In 1745 she attracted the attention of the king and was installed in the palace of Versailles. Soon afterwards she was ennobled by the title of marquise de Pompadour, from the manor of Pompadour, purchased for her by the king. She had great influence with Louis, for whom she acted in many ways as an executive secretary. For nearly 20 years her influence was predominant in all important affairs of state, and no one was appointed to office without her consent. She acted as an intermediary between the ministers and the king. Largely through the influence of the marquise de Pompadour a diplomatic arrangement was made so that, in the Seven Years' War, France fought on the side of its hereditary enemy, Austria. The marquise made and unmade ministers, and the French statesman the duc de Choiseul owed his influence to her support. She was instrumental in confining in the Bastille, and other prisons, many people who questioned her right to the enormous drafts on the public treasury made by the king. She died at Versailles on April 15, 1764, probably of lung cancer.