Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764)

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, afterwards Madame de Pompadour, was born to a bourgeois family in Paris, France. She was educated at a Catholic convent school and then by tutors. In 1741, she made an arranged marriage with Charles-Guillaume Lenormand (le Normant) and with her beauty, wealth, and excellent taste, became a well-known figure in Parisian high society. However, she was fired with ambition to become the official mistress of King Louis XV. This unlikely event actually came to pass in 1745, and the king made her a marquise in her own right. Although despised by other members of the court at Versailles for her non-aristocratic birth, and resented by the public for her lavish spending, Madame de Pompadour remained in the king's favor for nearly 20 years. She wielded enormous influence over all aspects of French society from politics to the arts, culture, and design that lasted far beyond her own lifetime.