Madame J. Michelet (1826–1899)

In 1849, Athénaïs-Marguerite Mialaret married as his second wife historian Jules Michelet, who was nearly 30 years her senior. She had first corresponded with him while working as a tutor for aristocratic children in Vienna. After the marriage, Athénaïs and her husband began to a share a literary life, collaborating on L'Oiseau (1856), L'Insecte (1857), La Mer (1861) and La Montagne (1868). Although these books were published under Jules Michelet's name only, he credited Athénaïs not only for turning his attention to natural history, but also as his co-writer. She later published several books in her own right: Mémoires d'une enfant in 1867 and Les chats in 1904. She also wrote a book aimed at an English audience that was published as Nature, or the Poetry of Earth and Sea (1872). However, she is best remembered for her lawsuit to be declared her husband's literary executor after his death in 1874, and for publishing several books about him and his family based on the manuscripts and journals he had left her. Subsequent historians have portrayed Athénaïs as an "abusive widow."