Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (1685-1755) was a French novelist. Influenced by the likes of Madame d'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault, she wrote in the French pr�cieuse literary style. During her writing career she produced a novella, four novels, and two collections of fairy tales. Her most celebrated work is 'La Belle et la B�te' (1740), which is the oldest known variant of the classic 'Beauty and the Beast' story.
