Scudéry, Madeleine de

Scudéry, Madeleine de (mädəlĕn` də sküdārē`), 1607?–1701, French novelist. Prominent at the Rambouillet salon, she later had one of the chief literary salons of Paris. Her two principal works, Artamène; ou, Le Grand Cyrus (1649–53) and Clélie (1654–60), are long pseudohistorical novels, full of fashionable sentiment and preciosity. They were extremely popular and all were translated into English. On the title pages appeared only the name of her brother,

Georges de Scudéry (zhôrzh), 1601–67, who was probably only a secondary collaborator. Georges wrote plays and other works and actively attacked Corneille's Cid.