Suzanne Curchod

Born in Switzerland, Suzanne Curchod rose through the social ranks, not by birth, but by sheer intellect and charm. Her salon in Paris became a hub for Enlightenment thinkers, where wit and philosophical discourse were as abundant as the finest wines. She managed to snag Jacques Necker, a Protestant Swiss banker who later became Louis XVI's finance minister, proving that a good brain and a sharp tongue could be just as effective as a hefty dowry.

Despite her staunch Protestant faith, and the fact that she was the daughter of a Protestant pastor, whispers sometimes circulated that she might have had Jewish roots. Perhaps it was her sharp financial acumen, or her perceived "otherness" in the rigid French aristocracy, that led to such speculation. Or maybe it was just good old-fashioned eighteenth-century gossip, where "Jewish" was often synonymous with "shrewd" or "foreign," especially when one was navigating the treacherous waters of French court society.

While her direct lineage doesn't point to a menorah on the family tree, Curchod certainly had a "kvell-worthy" career. She was an accomplished writer and intellectual in her own right, penning essays and even a novel. But her greatest triumph might well be raising Anne Louise Germaine Necker, better known as Madame de Staël, a literary and political force who utterly overshadowed her mother's already considerable achievements. Talk about setting a high bar for your progeny.