Charles Baudelaire.

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was born on April 9, 1821, in Paris, France, to Caroline Aupick and Joseph François Baudelaire. His father, then 61 years old, nurtured his love for art by taking him to museums and teaching him to paint. When Charles was six, his father died, and he became attached to his mother. After her remarriage, he was sent to a boarding school governed by military discipline, which he bitterly resented. His rebellious behavior led to expulsion from Lycée Louis-le-Grand in April 1839. His stepfather tried to reform him by sending him on a voyage to India in 1841, but Baudelaire jumped ship and returned to France in February 1842.

Baudelaire’s most famous work, Les Fleurs du Mal, was published in 1857 and immediately confiscated by French authorities. He was forced to remove six poems and pay a fine, yet the collection became perhaps the most influential poetry book in 19th-century Europe. He had begun translating Edgar Allan Poe’s tales and poems years earlier, a project that spanned many years and introduced Poe to French and English readers. Baudelaire also wrote incisive salon criticism, including a study of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. In 1860, he started publishing prose poetry, a form then unknown in France, showcasing his innovative literary experiments.

In 1842, Baudelaire met Jeanne Duval, a Creole woman who became his mistress and dominated his life for two decades. She inspired his most anguished and sensual love poetry, including the poem La Chevelure. Baudelaire’s relationship with his mother remained fraught after her remarriage, and he deeply resented his stepfather. His extravagant lifestyle, fueled by his inheritance, led to heavy debt and reliance on hashish and opium. He also contracted a venereal disease that contributed to his declining health. In his later years, he suffered from bouts of melancholy, which he called his moods of spleen.

Les Fleurs du Mal became the most influential poetry collection published in 19th-century Europe, shaping modern poetry’s exploration of beauty and decadence. His translations of Edgar Allan Poe made Poe a household name in France and England. He also pioneered prose poetry in France, beginning in 1860. Critics and readers praise his work for its unflinching examination of the modern urban experience and its impact on Symbolist and modernist literature. His revolutionary poetic vision and enduring influence on literary art define his legacy.