* Edmee de La Rochefoucauld; Famed French Literary Critic

The Duchess Dowager Edmee de La Rochefoucauld, 96, a literary critic and member of one of France’s most well-known families. Born in Paris, Mrs. de La Rochefoucauld had a literary upbringing. Her father, Count Edmond de Fels, was director of the famed arts magazine Revue de Paris. She married the Duke of La Rochefoucauld in 1917 and cultivated friendships with Paris’ literary set in the 1920s, especially with writer Paul Valery. Other writers she entertained at her Paris mansion over the decades included Andre Maurois, Jules Romains, Paul Morand, Anna de Noailles and the poet Leon-Paul Fargue. Her most notable works were her series of essays and analyses of Valery’s writings. She developed a reputation as an incisive literary critic and was a permanent participant on the prestigious Prix Femina jury since 1944. In 1962, she was made a member of the Belgian Royal Academy. She also was a commander of the French Legion of Honor. In Paris on an undisclosed date, a family spokesman said Sunday.