Claire de Duras

Born in 1777, Claire de Duras fled France after her father was executed during the French Revolution. In London, she married the duke of Durfort and of Duras, and they returned to France in 1808. Ourika, published anonymously in 1823, was one of five novels Duras had written the previous year; only two of them were published during her lifetime. She died in 1828.