 Her parents separated when she was five years old, and between the ages of five and ten was sent to live in Martinique.Her father was executed on 23 July 1794, at the time of the French Revolution, a few days before the end of the Reign of Terror.Her mother was imprisoned in the Carmelites prison, from which she was released on 6 August 1794, thanks to the intervention of her best friend Thérèse Tallien.