[Madeleine Sophia]. French opera-singer, born at Paris on the 13th of February 1740; was the daughter of a hotel-keeper. She received a good education, and possessing a fine voice and an attractive face and figure, on her appearance upon the stage at the age of thirteen she drew much attention from the leaders of the society of the gay capital. Among her friends were Madame de Pompadour, Diderot and Rousseau. From 1757 until 1778 her career was a continual triumph. She died in 1802. See her biography by Lamotte-Langon (2 vols., 1837). Her bon mots were collected and published in 1813. One of her sons was a colonel in the French army and was killed in the battle of Wagram.
