Elisabeth Francoise Sophie D' Houdetot, countess, a French lady celebrated by her association with Rousseau, born in Paris about 1730, died Jan. 22, 1813. She was a daughter of M. de la Live de Bellegarde, and married about 1748 the count d'Houdetot, to whom she bore a son in 1750. She left him toward 1753, and lived with the poet Saint-Lambert till his death in 1803. While residing at the chateau of Eau-Bonne near Andilly, and in the vicinity of the Hermitage which her sister-in-law Mine. d'Epinay had fitted up for Rousseau, she renewed her acquaintance with the latter, whom she had previously met in her relative's house in Paris. He fell in love with her, and idealized her in his Julie, ou la nouvelle Helo'ise, describing the vicissitudes of his passion and of his relation with her in his Confessions; but the countess protested against his exaggerations, and according to Rousseau's account as well as her own she remained faithful to her lover Saint-Lambert, although she felt much flattered by Rousseau's admiration. She had fine hair, but was far from handsome. When Saint-Lambert became idiotic in his old age she nursed him. Her husband, who died some 10 years before her lover, never lost his regard for her.

Her son became a lieutenant general, and his three sons acquired eminence respectively in civil and military life and in literature.