Camille de Morel

Camille de Morel (1547 - c. 1611) grew up, along with her two similarly highly educated sisters, in close proximity to the French royal court. Her father, Jean de Morel, worked for Catherine de Medici and her husband, Henri II. Both of Camille’s parents could read and write Latin, and they provided an excellent education for their children. Camille knew French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, and Italian, and she published Latin poems when she was as young as 12! Her public career was supported by Karel Utenhove (b. 1536) who was a polymath and linguist, proficient in at least nine languages.

Jane Stevenson, Women Latin Poets: Language, Gender, & Authority from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 188-193.

Laura Petersen