Delphine de Staël, also known as Madame de Staël, was a French author and literary figure of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her maiden name was Anne-Louise Germaine Necker, and she was born in Paris in 1766. She is best known for her novel Corinne, ou l'Italie (1807). Delphine de Staël was married to Baron Eric Magnus de Staël-Holstein, and their son was Auguste de Staël. Delphine de Staël was a friend of the American writer James Fenimore Cooper, and the French writer François-Rene de Chateaubriand. She was also a close friend of the American author and poet Edgar Allan Poe, and the French novelist and playwright Jean-François de La Harpe. The French novelist and playwright Jean-Baptiste-Antoine-Augustin de AGEE was another close friend of Delphine de Staël.