Charles Baudelaire French poet, creator of the sensational book 'Flowers of Evil' Date of Birth: 09.04.1821 Country: France

Biography of Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet and critic who played a significant role in shaping the development of modern poetry. He was born on April 9, 1821, in Paris. Baudelaire's school years were unremarkable and ended in expulsion from the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand for a minor offense. He was then assigned a guardian or tutor. In 1839, Baudelaire passed his bachelor's degree exam and enrolled in the National School of Chartes, immersing himself in the student life of the Latin Quarter, where he accumulated debts. Concerned about his extravagance, his family tolerated his student life for two years. His stepfather paid off his debts, after which he was sent to India for two years. However, due to a storm, the ship only made it to the island of Mauritius, where Baudelaire convinced the captain to send him back to France. In early 1841, he was already back in Paris.

Two months after his return, upon reaching adulthood, Baudelaire inherited an estate worth approximately 75,000 francs. In 1844, his family was horrified to discover that he had squandered half of his capital. A court-appointed advisor was assigned to manage the remaining funds. In the same year, he likely met Jeanne Duval, a mulatto woman working as a statistician in small Parisian theaters. She became his first of three well-known mistresses and was known as the Black Venus, inspiring him to create the best of the three cycles in "Les Fleurs du mal" (The Flowers of Evil, 1857). Around 1847, Baudelaire met Marie Daubrun, his second mistress. Like Jeanne Duval, she was an actress. Their breakup in 1859 marked the creation of the exquisite poem "La Madonne" (included in the second edition of "Les Fleurs du mal" in 1861). In terms of fame, rather than chronology, the second place among Baudelaire's lovers belongs to Apollonie Sabatier, who inspired him to write the cycle "The White Venus." In 1846 or 1847, Baudelaire became acquainted with some of Edgar Allan Poe's stories in French translations. After a brief interest in politics in 1848 and participation in the barricade fights on the side of the insurgents, Baudelaire spent the next seven years translating Poe's stories and publishing essays on writers and artists, establishing a reputation as the most discerning critic of his time.

Baudelaire's two volumes of essays, "Romantic Art" (L'Art romantique, published in 1868) and "Aesthetic Curiosities" (Curiosités esthétiques), include articles on literature and art written on occasion to raise money for sustenance or to ward off creditors. As uneven as his poetry, they surpass the best examples of their time thanks to their brilliant insights and ability to penetrate to the core of the problem, as evident in Baudelaire's assessments of Romanticism and critical remarks on the works of Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. From a psychological point of view, his diary entries, published in the books "Fuses" (Fusées) and "My Naked Heart" (Mon Coeur mis nu), are of great interest and contribute significantly to understanding his work. In April 1857, his stepfather died suddenly. Two months later, the first edition of "Les Fleurs du mal" was published, and Baudelaire was brought to court as the author of an immoral work. According to the verdict, he had to remove six poems and pay a fine of 300 francs, later reduced to fifty. Despite his contempt for the bourgeoisie, Baudelaire was shocked by the verdict and attempted to rehabilitate himself by submitting his candidacy to the French Academy; later, on the advice of Charles-Olivier Sainte-Beuve, he withdrew from the competition.

"Les Fleurs du mal" is not just a collection of poems but a cohesive poetic work that, in its second edition, was divided into six "sections," forming a kind of autobiography of the contemporary soul in its wandering through life. The first and longest section, "Spleen and Ideal" (Spleen et Idéal), depicts the poet torn between conflicting forces that either drag him to the depths or lift him to the heavens. It foreshadows the cycles about art and love, but the section itself ends with a reckless plunge into the swamp of melancholy or "spleen." In the second section, "Parisian Scenes" (Tableaux Parisiens), the poet wanders through the streets of Paris for twenty-four hours, tormented by his woes amidst the depressing indifference of the modern city. In the third section, "Wine" (Le Vin), he seeks oblivion in wine and narcotics. The fourth section, "The Flowers of Evil" (Fleurs du mal), is a cycle of temptations and countless sins that he cannot resist. In the fifth section, "Revolt" (Révolte), he defiantly challenges fate. The final section, "Death" (La Mort), signifies the end of the wanderings. The movement of the plot is reflected in the composition of the "sections" that make up the book, in the "sections" of various cycles, and ultimately in individual poems, which, like the entire collection, often also encapsulate a particular cycle. The sea, which occupies a significant place in Baudelaire's poetry, becomes a symbol of liberation while simultaneously symbolizing the endless, exhausting cycle that cannot provide rest and repose. "Les Fleurs du mal" had a tremendous influence on the development of modern poetry. Baudelaire's French followers - Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, Théodore de Banville, Jules Laforgue, and others - began with frank imitations of his style. Baudelaire's strong influence can also be found in the works of Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Richard Dehmel (Germany); Rubén Darío (Latin America); Algernon Charles Swinburne and Arthur Symons (England); and Henrietta Cordelia Ray (USA).

The second edition of "Les Fleurs du mal" was published in 1861. Six condemned poems were removed, but among their replacements were several masterpieces. For some time, Baudelaire cherished the dream of moving to Belgium, where there was no censorship. He hoped to publish his collection there without any cuts, earn money through lectures, and find temporary refuge from creditors. From all perspectives, this trip turned into a disaster. Baudelaire's publishing plans collapsed, the lectures ended in failure, and the Belgians deceived him when it came to payment. In April 1865, he suffered a stroke in the Jesuit church of Saint-Loup in Namur. Partially paralyzed, he lost his ability to speak. He was transported back to Paris and placed in a private sanatorium, where he passed away on August 31, 1867.