Elizabeth Kortright Monroe was the daughter of James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Monroe (née Kortright). She spent much of her childhood in Paris during the French Revolution, when her father was the American minister to France and attended school at Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, the school set up by Henriette Campan, a former lady-in-waiting to Marie Antionette. There she befriended Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais and the future mother of Emperor Napoleon III. She returned with her family to the United States in 1803, fluent in both French and English. She was married in 1808 to attorney and judge George Hay and acted as unofficial First Lady during her father James Monroe's presidency (April 6, 1811 – March 4, 1817), as her mother's health prevented her from performing many White House duties. Following the deaths of her parents and husband, she returned to Paris, converted to Catholicism, and entered a convent.
Elizabeth Kortright Monroe was the daughter of James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Monroe (née Kortright). She spent much of her childhood in Paris during the French Revolution, when her father was the American minister to France and attended school at Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, the school set up by Henriette Campan, a former lady-in-waiting to Marie Antionette. There she befriended Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais and the future mother of Emperor Napoleon III. She returned with her family to the United States in 1803, fluent in both French and English. She was married in 1808 to attorney and judge George Hay and acted as unofficial First Lady during her father James Monroe's presidency (April 6, 1811 – March 4, 1817), as her mother's health prevented her from performing many White House duties. Following the deaths of her parents and husband, she returned to Paris, converted to Catholicism, and entered a convent.
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