Anne "Ninon" de L'enclos

Determined to remain unmarried and independent, Anne “Ninon” de L’enclos was such an unmitigated pleasure-seeker that at one point in 1656, she was locked up in a convent as punishment for the way she was living her life. Quoted as saying “Much more genius is needed to make love than to command armies,” de L’enclos, who was known for both her great beauty and her many lovers, once wrote a book that maintained the possibility of living a good life, even if one was not religious (which she most certainly was not). Later in her life, she switched from entertaining well-known lovers to holding well-respected literary salons. Not a difficult jump for an in-your-face woman.