Maria Versfelt

Maria Johanna Elselina Versfelt (27 September 1776 – 19 May 1845), also known as Ida Saint-Elme, Elzelina van Aylde Jonghe, and by her pseudonym La Contemporaine, was a Dutch courtesan and author celebrated for her tumultuous life alongside French generals of Grande Armée. Her travels through Italy, Egypt and the Mediterranean are chronicled in her highly popular yet largely fictitious and unreliable memoirs.^[1]^[2] Additionally , she is credited with "possibly the earliest satirical magazine produced by a woman."^[3]

^ Ragan, John David (2000). A fascination for the Exotic: Suzanne Voilquin, Ismayl Urbain, Jehan d'Ivray and the Saint-Simonians: French Travelers in Egypt on the Margins (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science). UMI. pp. 405–418.
^ d'Ivray, Jehan (October 1936). "Une Aventuriere sous l'Empire". Les Oeuvres Libres. 184: 175–206, 201–202, 183–184, 197, 205.
^ "Ida Saint-Elme, the Female Casanova / Graphic Arts/ La caricature francaise". Acquisitions, Caricatures and satire, Illustrated books, prints and drawings of the Graphic Arts Collection, Special Collection, Firestone Library, Princeton University. 2 October 2020.

[1] Ragan, John David (2000). A fascination for the Exotic: Suzanne Voilquin, Ismayl Urbain, Jehan d'Ivray and the Saint-Simonians: French Travelers in Egypt on the Margins (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science). UMI. pp. 405–418.

[:0-2] 'Ivray, Jehan (October 1936). "Une Aventuriere sous l'Empire". Les Oeuvres Libres. 184: 175–206, 201–202, 183–184, 197, 205.

[:1-3] "Ida Saint-Elme, the Female Casanova / Graphic Arts/ La caricature francaise". Acquisitions, Caricatures and satire, Illustrated books, prints and drawings of the Graphic Arts Collection, Special Collection, Firestone Library, Princeton University. 2 October 2020.

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