Life and work

Her parents were Charles Estienne

Charles Estienne

Charles Estienne was an early exponent of the science of anatomy in France. Charles was a younger brother of Robert Estienne, the famous printer, and son to Henri, who Latinized the family name as Stephanus. He married Geneviève de Berly....

 and Geneviève de Berly. Her father's family was influential in the printing business.

The writer Jacques Grévin

Jacques Grévin

Jacques Grévin was a French dramatist.Grévin was born at Clermont, Oise in about 1539, and he studied medicine at the University of Paris. He became a disciple of Ronsard, and was one of the band of dramatists who sought to introduce the classical drama in France...

 became engaged to her and celebrated her in his collection L'Olimpe. The engagement was broken for unknown reasons.
Nicole then married Jean Liebault

Jean Liebault

Jean Liebault was a doctor and agronomist, born in Dijon.He married Nicole Estienne, who published several writings about marriage, in which she condemned domestic violence and a large age difference between spouses. His father-in-law, Charles Estienne gave him the French translation of Estienne's...

, a physician from Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

.

She wrote several works, some of which have survived. In response to Philippe Desportes's misogynist writings, she defended women in her Stanzes. Her best known work is Les Misères de la Femme mariée, où se peuvent voir les peines et tourmens qu’elle reçoit durant sa vie, in which she condemned big age differences between spouses and domestic violence.

Some of her poems were written as introductions to the work of other poets.