Caroline Weber (author)

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Caroline Weber
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Spouse
​
(m. 2018)​
Academic background
EducationB.A., literature, 1991, Harvard University
MA, MPhil, PhD, French literature, 1998, Yale University
ThesisThe limits of "saying everything": terrorist suppressions and unspeakable difference in Rousseau, Sade, Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Desmoulins (1998)
Academic work
DisciplineLiterature
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Main interestsEighteenth Century French literature
Cultural history
Notable works
  • Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris
  • Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Caroline Elizabeth Weber (born 1969) is an American author and fashion historian. She is a professor of French and comparative literature at Barnard College within Columbia University. Her book Proust's Duchess was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Early life and education[edit]

Weber was born in 1969.[1] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in literature (summa cum laude) from Harvard University and her PhD in French literature from Yale University.[2]

Career[edit]

After earning her PhD, Weber joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor of Romance languages.[3] While at the University of Pennsylvania, she authored Terror and its Discontents: Suspect Words and the French Revolution[4] and co-edited Fragments of Revolution with Howard G. Lay.[5]

After seven years at the University of Pennsylvania, Weber joined the faculty at Columbia University as a professor of French and comparative literature.[6] While there, her book Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the French Revolution was published in 2007 and described Antoinette's life starting from her arrival from Austria into France.[7] The biographical novel focused on Antoinette's control over her image through her autonomy of fashion.[8]

While conducting research for her book Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris, Weber discovered one unknown and one lost essay by Marcel Proust about Parisian high society.[9] As she was sifting through Élisabeth Greffulhe's personal archive, Weber discovered an unfinished and unpublished essay by Proust from 1902 to 1903 titled "The Salon of the Comtesse Greffulhe."[10] Greffulhe's husband had ordered her to not publish the essay for its vulgar contents, which she agreed to in fear of being beaten.[9] Weber used these essays to trace the lives of three high-society female models for the Duchesse de Guermantes, from childhood to adulthood, in In Search of Lost Time, Proust's novel in seven volumes.[11] Upon publishing the book, Weber was named a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography[12] and received the 2019 French Heritage Society Literary Award.[13]

Personal life[edit]

Weber is married to economist Paul Romer. Their wedding occurred in 2018, the morning Romer accepted his Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Weber, Caroline 1969–". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Caroline Weber". barnard.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  3. ^ "Faculty Appointments and Promotions January 1, 1999, through October 7, 1999". almanac.upenn.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Turnovsky, Geoffrey (2003). "Terror and Its Discontents: Suspect Words in Revolutionary France (review)". L'Esprit Créateur. 43 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press: 99. doi:10.1353/esp.2010.0234. S2CID 159768620.
  5. ^ "Fragments of Revolution - Yale French Studies No. 101 (Paperback)". waterstones.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Political Consequence of Dress". sohorep.org. October 9, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Majer, Michele (2009). "Reviewed Work: Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber". Studies in the Decorative Arts. 17 (1): 220–224. doi:10.1086/652675. JSTOR 10.1086/652675.
  8. ^ Horwell, Veronica (February 10, 2007). "Guillotine chic". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Alberge, Dalya (May 26, 2018). "In search of lost manuscripts: essays reveal Proust's love of society women". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  10. ^ Watt, Adam (November 23, 2018). "Crisis of visibility". the-tls.co.uk. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Harder, Hollie. "Finding Proust's Duchess". yalereview.yale.edu. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Finalist: Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris". pulitzer.org. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Fryd, Lee (2019). "The French Heritage Society Honors Caroline Weber". hamptons.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Mallozzi, Vincent M. (December 11, 2018). "Arts Meets Science and Chemistry Wins the Day". New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
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