‏Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve‏

Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve was a French author, best known for writing the original version of the fairy tale "La Belle et la Bête", or "Beauty and the Beast" in English. Born to Jean Barbot, squire, lord of Romagné and Mothais, councilor of the King at the Presidial of La Rochelle, and of Dame Suzanne Allaire, her original name was Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot, lady of Romagné and Mothais. Barbot was born and died in Paris, France, but belonged to a powerful Protestant family from La Rochelle. In 1706, Barbot married Jean-Baptiste Gaalon de Barzay, knight, lord of Villeneuve, a member of an aristocratic family from Poitou and lieutenant-colonel of infantry at the Berville Regiment. Gabrielle-Suzanne became a widow at the age of 26 and progressively lost her family fortune and was forced to seek a means of employment to support herself.

Eventually, she made her way to Paris where she embarked on her literary career. There, she met Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, or Crébillon, père, whom she lived with until her death.

Her tale, Beauty and the Beast was published in La Jeune Américaine, et les Contes marins in 1740. Barbot de Villeneuve may have heard this tale from a maid while she was traveling to America. After her death, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont re-wrote the tale in an abridged form and published it in 1756 in her Magasin des enfants to teach young English girls a moral lesson. Beaumont's edition is more well-known than this original version. In fact, Barbot de Villeneuve was not credited in Leprince de Beaumont's publication.