George Sand (1804–1876)

George Sand, the pen name of Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, was raised by her paternal grandmother, Marie Aurore de Saxe, and educated partly at a convent. In 1822, at the age of 18, she married Baron Casimir Dudevant, with whom she had two children. In 1831, she left her husband and went to Paris, where she wore male attire, smoked in public, and adopted a male pseudonym, among her other gender-defying activities. She had a nearly 10-year love affair with Frédéric Chopin. She became one of the most popular writers in Europe in her own lifetime, and is recognized today as one of the most notable writers of the European Romantic era.