Biographical Directory 295Dubois, Guillaume (1656 –1723). French Cardinal and politician. Among
his many posts, Dubois was advisor to the Duc d’Orleans during his
regency from 1715 –1723. He was named secretary of foreign affairs in
1718 and in 1721 signed the Franco-Spanish Treaty and arranged the
marriage of Louis XV to the Spanish Infanta.
Eloisa, more commonly Heloise (c. 1101–1164). Common fi gure in lit-
erature and poetry; remembered for her tragic love affair with her tu-
tor, the theologian Abelard. When they were separated in scandal she
entered a convent and ultimately became the prioress of the convent of
Argenteuil. Wollstonecraft highlights the connection between Heloise
and the heroine of Rousseau’s novel as indicated in his title, Julie, ou La
Nouvelle Heloise (1761).
Emile or Emilius. See Rousseau.
Empress of Russia. See Catherine the Great.
Eon de Beaumont, Charles Genevieve Timothe D’ (1728 –1810). French
diplomat and famous transvestite. The term “eonism” in psychology
comes from him. He was an accomplished politician and soldier, as well
as a successful scholar and writer. Wollstonecraft includes “Madame
d’Eon” among her examples of “a few women who, from having re-
ceived a masculine education, have acquired courage and resolution.”
Fabricius, Gaius Luscinus (d. c. 270 BCE). Roman censor and general, cited
by many as an antique exemplar of honesty and frugality. He was known
for living with austerity, for refusing to accept bribes, and while serving
as censor for expelling P. Cornelius Rufi nus from the senate for the pos-
session of ten pounds of silver tableware. Both Livy and Cic ero mention
Fabricius in connection with the virtues of honesty and integrity.
Fordyce, Dr. James (1720 –1796). Scottish minister in the Presbyterian
Church and poet. He is famous for a 1766 collection of sermons en-
titled Sermons for Young Women, also known as Fordyce’s Sermons.
Wollstonecraft castigates the sentimental presentation of his precepts in
the Sermons, which extinguish the possibility for true virtue and grace
by encouraging artifi cial meekness in women.
Forster, Johann Reinhold (1729 –1798). Naturalist writer and publisher
from Germany. His study of the Volga colonies in Russia rendered him
useful to those managing British colonies and so he left Germany for
London. There he taught at the Dissenting Academy at Warrington and
was an active member of the Society of Antiquaries and the Society of
Arts. After publishing naturalist works such as Bougainsville’s Voyage
Round the World (1772) and his own Introduction to Mineralogy (1768)