Marie-Madeleine, comtesse de La Fayette (baptized March 18, 1634, Paris—died May 25, 1693, Paris) was a French writer whose La Princesse de Clèves is a landmark of French fiction. In Paris during the civil wars of the Fronde, young Mlle de la Vergne was brought into contact with Madame de Sévigné, now famous for her letters.