Olympe de Gouges
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The Pompignan family had long-standing close ties to the Mouisset family of Marie Gouze's mother, Anne. When Anne was born in 1714, the eldest Pompignan son, Jean-Jacques Lefranc de Pompignan (age five), was her godfather. Anne's father tutored him as he grew. During their childhoods, Pompignan became close to Anne, but was separated from her in 1734 when he was sent to Paris. Anne married Pierre Gouze, a butcher, in 1737 and had three children before Marie, a son and two girls.cite-ref-mousset10-5-0[5] Pompignan returned to Montauban in 1747, the year before Marie's birth.cite-ref-mousset10-5-1[5] Pierre was legally recognized as Marie's father.cite-ref-kuiper-note-2-3[2] Pierre did not attend Marie's baptism on 8 May. Her godfather was a workman named Jean Portié, and her godmother a woman named Marie Grimal.cite-ref-mousset11-6-0[6] Pierre died in 1750.cite-ref-mousset11-6-1[6]
The primary support for the identification of Pompignan as Marie Gouze's father is found in her semi-autobiographical novel, Mémoires de Madame de Valmont, published after Pompignan's death.cite-ref-kuiper-note-2-4[2] According to the contemporary politician Jean-Baptiste Poncet-Delpech and others, "all of Montauban" knew that Pompignan was Gouze's father.cite-ref-paul1989-7-0[7] However, some historians consider it likely that Gouze fabricated the story for her memoirs in order to raise her prestige and social standing when she moved to Paris.cite-ref-0-4-1[4]
Early life