Sophie Ségur

Author Sophie Ségur is also known as Comtesse de Ségur (The Countess of Segur). She was a French writer from Russian descent. She is known for her stories for children, including the collection Old French Fairy Tales. The fairy tales in the collection portray children having fantastical adventures and are broken into several parts. In each tale, people encounter talking animals, fairies, and other elements that are familiar to those who love fairy tales.

Painting of Sophie de Ségur by Louis Gaston de Ségur, circa 1840.

The Countess grew up the daughter of Count Fyodor Rostopchin, who was lieutenant-general and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia. He was also the governor of Moscow during the invasion of the Grande Armée under Napoleon I of France in 1812. She was the mother of eight children, and wrote her first novel two years shy of 60. One of her most famous works is the children’s novel Les Malheurs de Sophie (“Sophie’s Misfortunes), which is so popular in France that Google honored it with a Google Doodle in August 2014, on the occasion of what would have been Ségur’s 215th birthday.