Antoinette Quarré, Dijon (21), La Côte-d'Or (21)

Antoinette Quarré (not Carré as some have written) was a seamstress in Dijon and also a poet whom Lamartine praised but Flora Tristan hated. This tomb in the Grand Cimetière de Dijon (Les Péjoces) is a remarkable praise to her, containing strong words of appreciation from Lamartine, angels holding up her book, a profile medallion of her, and a notable plaque from her friends. This stone is almost a work of art in itself.

Antoinette Quarré in Dijon, (Côte-d'Or (21))

Antoinette Suzanne Quarré (1813-47) was a working-class poet who was born in Recey-sur-Ource (Côte-d'Or) and died in Dijon. She was a linen maid in Dijon of poor health, and a story handed down tells that she learned to read from Voltaire's Zaïre. Receiving lessons from M. de Belloguet, she leaned towards poetry and published several works in verse and in prose (particularly in Le Journal des Demoiselles). An elegy on Marie d'Orléans gave her a mention in the Société des lettres et des arts de Seine-et-Oise in 1839. She sent her verses to Lamartine, who in 1838 responded by a poem, 'À une jeune fille poète', which he included in Recueillements poétiques. Encouraged by friends she published a collection of poetry in 1843, although she died of heart failure in 1847.