This project aims to lead a thought about women's role as writers and educators in the european Enlightenment from the exemple of Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

The project tries to question the concept of «Enlightenment« under the view of the action and the work of some female educators. Three directions are selected: the redefining of the perimeter of the concept, its extension to the European context, the inclusion of a widened corpus. Plural, cross-cultural and extra-canonical, the Enlightenment movement stands out in relief. The confrontation of the French and German historiographical traditions, different in their approaches though complementary, allows to overtake points of view which are traditionally applied to this question. This contributes to renew the terms of the scientific debate.