Sophie Neveu

Sophie Neveu is a fictional character in the novel and film, "The Da Vinci Code". Neveu is the granddaughter of Louvre curator Jacques Saunière. She is a French National Police cryptographer, who studied at the Royal Holloway, University of London Information Security Group.

She was raised by her grandfather from an early age, after her parents were killed in a car accident. Her grandfather used to call her "Princesse Sophie" and trained her to solve complicated word puzzles. As a young girl, she accidentally discovered a strange key in her grandfather's room inscribed with the initials "P.S.". Later, as a college student, she made a surprise visit to her grandfather's house in Normandy and, silently horrified, she observed him participating in the Hieros Gamos, a sex ritual. The incident led to her estrangement with her grandfather for ten years until the night of his murder.

Sophie finds out at the end of the book that she is a descendant of the Merovingians, and a living descendant of the historical Jesus. She first starts suspecting this when Sir Leigh Teabing reveals the truth of the Holy Grail, but dismisses the idea when Langdon tells her that neither her surname nor her grandfather's is a Merovingian name. In fact, as she later finds out, her parents and ancestors had, for protection, changed their family names of Plantard and Saint-Clair.

Trivia

The French word "neveu" means "nephew". The name "Sophia" is from the Greek word for wisdom. Sophia is also considered the Goddess of Wisdom. Some cultures believe she represents the Goddess that reigns with God.

Movie portrayal

In the movie, Sophie is portrayed by French actress Audrey Tautou. Other actresses considered for the role of Sophie include Aishwarya Rai, Julie Delpy, Kate Beckinsale, Sophie Marceau, Virginie Ledoyen, Judith Godrèche and Linda Hardy.