La Motte, Jeanne de Valois, countess de (1756–1791)

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La Motte, Jeanne de Valois, countess de (1756–1791)

French adventurer. Name variations: Madame La Motte; Jeanne Lamotte; Jeanne de Valois, countess de la Motte; Countess de La Motte. Born Jeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois in 1756; died 1791; m. Nicolas de La Motte (soldier).

Daughter of a poor farmer in Champagne who was one of the last of the Valois (a direct descendant of French king, Henry II); after father died and left her penniless, was granted an annual pension of 800 livres by Louis XVI; spent next few years petitioning the court for more; with husband, set out to recoup Valois estates, involving Marie Antoinette in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace (1783–84); when the elaborate plot was revealed (1786), was branded and imprisoned; escaped from jail (1787) and joined husband in England; autobiography published (1793), 2 years after her death. Alexander Dumas pére wrote novel, Le Collier de la Reine (1849–50), based on her scam.

See also Women in World History.

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