Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (born de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a French romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern.
Marie d'Agoult was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with the full name of Marie Catherine Sophie de Flavigny, the daughter of Alexandre Victor François, Vicomte de Flavigny (1770âÂÂ1819), an émigré French aristocrat, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Bethmann (1772âÂÂ1847), whose father was the German merchant and banker Johann Philipp Bethmann (1715âÂÂ1793). According to Siegfried Mandel, however, Maria Elisabeth's father was Simon Moritz Bethmann, who was Johann Philipp's younger brother, and the Bethmanns were Jewish. The young Marie spent her early years in Germany and completed her education in a French convent after the Bourbon Restoration.
She entered into an early marriage of convenience with Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult, Comte d'Agoult (1790âÂÂ1875) on 16 May 1827, thereby becoming the Comtesse d'Agoult. They had two daughters, Louise (1828âÂÂ1834) and Claire (1830âÂÂ1912). Marie never divorced the count, even though she had left him for Franz Liszt.
From 1835 to 1839, she lived with composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt, who was six years younger, and was then a rising concert star. Liszt dedicated âÂÂDie Lorelei", one of his very first pieces to her.
From 1837 to 1839 the two traveled to Italy and Switzerland, staying successively in Bellagio, Milan, Venice, Lugano, Modena, Florence, Bologna and Rome. During these travels, she became close to Liszt's circle of friends, including Frédéric Chopin, who dedicated his 12 ÃÂtudes, Op. 25 to her, and George Sand.
DâÂÂAgoult's relationship with Sand began as friendship, with Sand acting as a mentor for the less experienced DâÂÂAgoult, but soured over the years amid rumors of jealousy and ended in mutual animosity. Sand's account of this period became the inspiration for Honoré de BalzacâÂÂs novel, Béatrix.
D'Agoult had three children with Liszt; however, she and Liszt did not marry, maintaining their independent views and other differences while Liszt was busy composing and touring throughout Europe. After their breakup in 1844, Liszt assumed full custody of their three children and refused DâÂÂAgoult any visitation rights.
Her children with Liszt were:
Following her split with Liszt, D'Agoult resurrected her Paris salon first in Geneva with attendees such as Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, Germaine de Staël, Adolphe Pictet, and then in Paris. This salon eventually became a meeting place for democratic opposition to Napoleon III and his authoritarian rule following his coup d'état in 1851.
In 1876, she died in Paris, aged 70, and was buried in Division 54 of Père Lachaise Cemetery.
.