In the midst of France's pension crisis, cabinet minister Marlène Schiappa had the poor timing to appear in French Playboy. In provocative photos, she poses as Joan of Arc, the Sun King, and Liberty Leading the People.

Schiappa made no apologies, when criticized. Appearing in Playboy, she explained, aligns with her lifelong fight for the rights of women and LGBTQ people.

Her cameo appearance also revives discussion of her identity as a sapiosexuelle. 

Sapio…quoi?

Sapiosexuality is not found in my well-worn Larousse though it is in Merriam-Webster online. It is defined as a sexual attraction to the intelligence of another person. Its Latin root sapio means “I have wisdom” and “I have taste.”

Sapiosexuality is not a sexual orientation, Gays, straights and bisexuals can be a sapiophile. High intelligence is the most erotic quality, and it can make gender irrelevant. 

Sapiosexuality has been labeled elitist and Euro-centric, a currently woke fad. But looking back in history, one has to wonder: Were the Enlightenment philosophes—who valued reason and knowledge above all—sapiosexuals? Consider:

Voltaire

The great philosopher’s great love was Émilie du Châtelet, a brilliant mathematician and philosophe who translated Isaac Newton’s work on physics. Though Mme. du Chatelet was married, Voltaire moved in with her at her country estate. There they set up a laboratory where they conducted scientific experiments and wrote papers together. 

Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau described his greatest love as his tutor, Madame de Warrens. He was 20 and she 12 years his senior when they became lovers. Such a tutor/student relationship is found in his best-seller “Julie or The New Heloise.” The novel was built upon the legendary letters of the doomed lovers Abelard and Heloise of the 12th century (pictured at top). Abelard was an esteemed theologian and Heloise his brilliant student, whom he impregnated. When their love was discovered, Abelard was castrated and Heloise was sent to a nunnery. Denied carnal love, their erotic and intellectual passions blossomed in the letters they exchanged for the rest of their lives. 

Diderot

Denis Diderot was described by Voltaire as “having a mind like an oven that burns up every idea that enters it.” His intellectual passions were well known to arts patron Catherine the Great, who purchased the library of the Encyclopedist and hosted him in Saint Petersburg late in his life. During their intellectual discussions (for which Diderot prepared agendas in the form of essays), he encroached on her and pounded her thighs to emphasize his points. She had a table placed between them to defend herself and to maintain propriety. There is no evidence that their relationship was sexual, but their lofty intellectual intimacy was exhilarating by Diderot's account. He called her “an astonishing woman” who combined “the intelligence of Caesar and the beauty of Cleopatra.” Catherine called Diderot an “extraordinary man.”  

Madame de Staël

As a child, Anne Louise Germaine Necker sat at the feet of leading philosophes of the Enlightenment in the salon of her mother, Suzanne Curchod Necker, wife of finance minister Jacques Necker. She went on to become a second-generation salonnière whose intellectual gatherings were known as the Coppet Circle. After fielding offers from numerous suitors who marveled at her intelligence, she married Baron de Staël, a Swedish diplomat. It was a marriage of convenience that allowed her to live a literary life enriched with romantic affairs. Her most famous paramour was Benjamin Constant, whom she described as “not very handsome but exceptionally intelligent.” Indeed, she admitted to being seduced by his mind—intelligence was his only charm—but repelled by his appearance. The two became writing collaborators and lovers, and together they stoked their intellectual bonfire for 15 years. 

Benjamin Franklin

The Enlightenment’s American cousin spent nine delightful years in Paris late in life, where “le sage de Boston” was the object of adoration. Salon ladies sat on his lap and cooed “Kiss Papa, cher Papa!” It is unclear if Franklin, then in his 70s, ever consummated these relationships or if flirtation and flattery were satisfaction enough. 

Disney

Sapiosexuality may be at play in Beauty and the Beast, the classic 1991 Disney film, based on the 18th century French fairy tale La Belle et la Bête. In the Disney version, the bookish Belle falls in love with the Beast (revealed to be a prince who shows kindness), not the handsome hunk Gaston, who displays only narcissism, jealousy and shallowness. 

Podcasts

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Reimagining a Green Notre Dame Space

The area surrounding Notre Dame Cathedral is being reimagined, as part of the vast greening of Paris. In a few years, the 12 million people who visit the cathedral annually will encounter a welcoming space that is far greener, cooler and more amenable to social interactions.

It may also be more Parisian.

See how the landscape architects of Bureau Bas Smets are creating an inviting gathering space--for Parisians as well as for tourists--in the historic heart of Paris.

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"Myths and Mysteries of the Bastille," created for the Alliance Francaise. By Zoom on July 13, 2023.