Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum
International Colloquium: "Marie Leprince de Beaumont – Une éducatrice des Lumières"
19.-20.12.2013
On December 19th and 20th 2013, the international colloquium "Marie Leprince de Beaumont - Une éducatrice des Lumières", whose organization the Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum supported, took place. The conference was developed through a collaboration between the University of Augsburg and the Université de Lorraine. A public evening lecture was held by Nadine Bérenguier from the University of Hampshire.
Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1780) was one of the most famous authors of educational literature in 18th century France and Europe. Numerous translations of her educational texts, especially the Magasins, are testament to her importance. Despite her great influence throughout history, the work and life story of this Catholic educator have hardly been the subject of extensive research. Apart from some more recent studies, academic interest mainly centred on the version of "Beauty and the Beast", which she incorporated into her most famous publication, Le Magasin des Enfants (1756). Her multi-faceted positions reveal a diversity that is not always in keeping with the traditional view of the Enlightenment presented by historians.
Following a first colloquium on Marie Leprince de Beaumont (" Madame Leprince de Beaumont/ La Belle et la bête dans tous ses états "), held in Nancy in October 2011, this second conference intends to further the examination of this extremely interesting pedagogue, focusing in particular on some of her works that have only received relatively little critical attention. The colloquium seeks to examine her reception outside France, to consider the philosophical foundations which underpin her work, and to reconsider her controversial classification among anti-Lumières authors.