Kdo chodil s Germaine de Staël?

Baronka Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, rozená Neckerová, obvykle nazývaná Madame de Staël, (22. duben 1766, Paříž – 14. červenec 1817, Paříž) byla francouzsko-švýcarská spisovatelka.

Byla dcerou ministra Ludvíka XVI. Jacquese Neckera, provdala se za švédského diplomata a udržovala vztah s politickým filozofem Benjaminem Constantem. Z Paříže se opakovaně uchylovala do exilu, zejména do Švýcarska a Německa, po radikalizaci Francouzské revoluce a znovu po neshodách s Napoleonem.

Věnovala se teoretickým otázkám, jako v eseji De la littérature considérée dans ses rapports avec les institutions sociales (O literatuře posuzované ve vztahu k sociálním institucím), kde popsala determinismus geografického prostředí (srovnání středomořského Homéra se severským Ossianem). V románu Delphine se mimo jiné věnuje otázce postavení ženy, na kterou později naváže George Sandová. K jejím nejvlivnějším dílům patří De l'Allemagne (O Německu), kulturně-intelektuální obraz Německa, který uvedl německou literaturu do francouzského povědomí a významně ovlivnil francouzský romantismus.

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (; French: [ʃaʁl mɔʁis də tal(ɛ)ʁɑ̃ peʁiɡɔʁ, moʁ-]; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838), 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French secularized clergyman, statesman, and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he became Agent-General of the Clergy in 1780. In 1789, just before the French Revolution, he became Bishop of Autun. He worked at the highest levels of successive French governments, most commonly as foreign minister or in some other diplomatic capacity. He served as the French representative to the Congress of Vienna. His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, the years of the French Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis Philippe I. Those Talleyrand served often distrusted him but found him extremely useful. The name "Talleyrand" has become a byword for crafty and cynical diplomacy.

Talleyrand was Napoleon's chief diplomat during the years when French military victories brought one European state after another under French hegemony. Most of the time, he worked for peace so as to consolidate France's gains. He succeeded in obtaining peace with Austria through the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville and with Britain in the 1802 Treaty of Amiens. He could not prevent the renewal of war in 1803 but by 1805 he opposed his emperor's renewed wars against Austria, Prussia, and Russia. He resigned as foreign minister in August 1807, but retained the trust of Napoleon. He conspired to undermine the emperor's plans through secret dealings with Tsar Alexander I of Russia and the Austrian minister Klemens von Metternich. Talleyrand sought a negotiated secure peace so as to perpetuate the gains of the French Revolution. Napoleon rejected peace; when he fell in 1814, Talleyrand supported the Bourbon Restoration decided by the Allies. He played a major role at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815, where he negotiated a favorable settlement for France and played a role in unwinding the Napoleonic Wars.

Talleyrand polarizes opinion. Some regard him as one of the most versatile, skilled, and influential diplomats in European history, with a clear-eyed and realistic view of the French national interest. Others, on the other hand, see him as a serial turncoat seeking only his own advantage, betraying the ancien régime, the French Revolution, and Napoleon in turn for his own gain.

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25. říjen 1767, Lausanne – 8. prosinec 1830, Paříž) byl švýcarsko-francouzský politik, politický filozof a spisovatel, představitel liberalismu.