Pauline Marie Armande Craven

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Pauline Marie Armande Craven (born April 12, 1808 in London; died April 1, 1891 in Paris) was a French author.

She was the daughter of a Breton nobleman. Her father, the comte Auguste de la Ferronays, was a close friend of the duc de Bern, whom he accompanied on his return to France in 1814. He and his wife were attached to the court of Charles X at the Tuileries, but a momentary quarrel with the duc de Bern made retirement imperative to the Counts sense of honor.

He was appointed ambassador to St. Petersburg, and in 1827 became foreign minister in Paris. Pauline was thus brought up in brilliant surroundings, but her strongest impressions were those which she derived from the group of Catholic thinkers gathered around Lamennais, and her ardent piety furnishes the key to her life.

In 1828 her father was sent to Rome, and Pauline, at the suggestion of Alexis Rio, the art critic, made her first literary essay with a description of the emotions that she experienced on a visit to the catacombs. During the revolution of July, M. de la Ferronays resigned his position, and retired with his family to Naples. Here Pauline met her future husband, Augustus Craven, who was then attached to the British embassy. His father, Keppel Richard Craven, the well-known supporter of Queen Caroline, objected to his son's marriage to a Catholic; but his scruples were overcome, and immediately after the marriage (1834) Augustus Craven joined the Roman Catholic Church.

Mrs. Craven's family life was depicted in the Le Récit d'une Soeur as especially tender and intimate. She suffered several severe bereavements in the years following her marriage. The Cravens lived abroad until 1851. In the same year Keppel Richard Craven died. His son's diplomatic career appeared unsuccessful. He stood unsuccessfully for election to Parliament for Dublin in 1852 after which he retired to private life. The family went to live in Naples in 1853. Mrs. Craven then began to write the history of the family life of the la Ferronays between 1830 and 1836. Its focus was the love story of her brother Albert and his wife Alexandrine. This book, the Le Récit d'une Soeur (1866, Eng. trans. 1868), was enthusiastically received and was awarded a prize by the French Academy.

Strained circumstances made it vital that Mrs. Craven earn money by writing. Anne Sivrin appeared in 1868, Fleurange in 1871, Le Mot d'énigme in 1874, Le Valbriant (Eng. trans., Lucia) in 1886. Among her miscellaneous works are La Sceur Natalie Narischkin (1876), Deux Incidents de la question catholique en Angleterre (1875), Lady Georgiana Fullerton, sa vie et ses ceuvres (1888). Mrs Cravens charming personality won her many friends. She was a frequent guest of Lord Palmerston, Lord Ellesmere and Lord Granville.

Before his death in 1884, her husband translated her correspondence with Lord Palmerston and her correspondence with the Prince Consort into French. She died in Paris on April 1, 1891.