Wood Plaque - Marguerite Naseau by J. Lonneman

At the age of 20, Marguerite Naseau, the eldest of nine children and a poor, uneducated shepherdess, decided to teach children to read. But first she had to conquer her own illiteracy. She asked her parish priest to teach her the alphabet, four letters at a time. Marguerite studied while tending sheep. After instructing girls from her own village of Suresnes, France, this audacious young woman and several companions went from village to village to teach other girls how to read. It was in Villepreux that Marguerite met St.