Charles Baudelaire
French poet who coined modernity and wrote Les Fleurs du mal.
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet, essayist, translator, and art critic whose work is noted for its masterful handling of rhythm and rhyme. His poetry draws on an exoticism inherited from the Romantics while remaining firmly grounded in observations of real life. He is most famous for his lyric poetry collection *Les Fleurs du mal* (The Flowers of Evil), which captures the shifting nature of beauty in a Paris undergoing rapid industrialization due to Haussmann’s renovation. Baudelaire coined the term *modernité* (modernity) to define the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in a large city and argued that artistic expression must capture that experience. His innovative prose-poetry style profoundly influenced later poets such as Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé, and he has been credited by Marshall Berman as the first Modernist. Born in Paris in 1821, Baudelaire was baptized at Saint-Sulpice. His father, a senior civil servant and amateur artist, died when Baudelaire was a child, and his mother soon remarried Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Aupick. Biographers view this loss of his mother’s sole attention as a formative trauma, which may explain his later excesses. He was educated in Lyon and later at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, where he studied law but felt no vocation for any career. His stepfather sent him on a voyage to Calcutta in 1841 to curb his dissolute habits; though he did not reach India, the journey provided lasting impressions of the sea and exotic ports. Upon returning to Paris, he began composing poems for *Les Fleurs du mal*. He received a large inheritance at 21 but squandered it, leading his family to place his property in trust—a decision he bitterly resented. Baudelaire became known as a dandy and free-spender, and his mistress Jeanne Duval was rejected by his family. He participated in the Revolutions of 1848 but later described his political interest as passing. Throughout the 1850s, he struggled with poor health, mounting debts, and irregular output, often moving to evade creditors. His first published work was the art review “Salon of 1845,” which gained attention for its boldness, and he later championed the Romantic painter Delacroix.
- born
- 9 April 1821
- died
- 31 August 1867
- field
- Poetry, essay, translation, art criticism
- nationality
- French
- known_for
- Les Fleurs du mal, coining the term modernity (modernité)
Lore & Background
Baudelaire was born in Paris on 9 April 1821. His father, a senior civil servant and amateur artist, died when Baudelaire was a child. His mother then married Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Aupick, a move that biographers often saw as a crucial trauma in Baudelaire's life. He was educated in Lyon and later at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, studying law, but he felt no vocation for it. His stepfather sent him on a voyage to Calcutta in 1841 to curb his dissolute habits; though he did not reach India, the trip provided impressions of the sea and exotic ports that later appeared in his poetry. Upon returning to Paris, he began composing poems for Les Fleurs du mal. He received a sizable inheritance at age 21 but squandered much of it, leading his family to place his property in trust. He became known as a dandy and free-spender, and his mistress Jeanne Duval was rejected by his family. He took part in the Revolutions of 1848 and wrote for a revolutionary newspaper, though his interest in politics was passing.
Reader's Guide
Baudelaire's significance lies in his role as a pioneer of modernist sensibility. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (1857), was prosecuted for offending public morals, yet it was praised by fellow artists such as Gustave Flaubert and Théodore de Banville. The poems explore themes of sex, death, melancholy, and the corruption of the city, using imagery of smell and fragrance to evoke nostalgia. Baudelaire coined the term modernity to capture the fleeting, ephemeral experience of urban life, and he argued that art must express that experience. His original style of prose-poetry influenced later poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé. Marshall Berman credited Baudelaire as the first Modernist. Baudelaire also worked as an art critic, championing Delacroix and offering opinions that anticipated Impressionist theories. His legacy endures as a central figure in the transition from Romanticism to modernism, and his work continues to be studied for its formal mastery and its unflinching engagement with the realities of modern life.
Did You Know?
- Baudelaire coined the term modernity (modernité) to describe the fleeting experience of life in an urban metropolis.
- His stepfather sent him on a voyage to Calcutta in 1841, but he stopped on Mauritius and Réunion and returned to Paris after a few weeks.
- He was successfully prosecuted along with his publisher and printer for creating an offense against public morals over Les Fleurs du mal.
- Baudelaire translated stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Charles Baudelaire (9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, critic and translator." — Charles Baudelaire "Tout ce qui plaît a une raison de plaire, et mépriser les attroupements de ceux qui s'égarent n'est pas le moyen de les ramener où ils devraient être." — Charles Baudelaire "Everything that gives pleasure has its reason. To scorn the mobs of those who go astray is not the means to bring them around." — Charles Baudelaire "Toutes les beautés contiennent, comme tous les phénomènes possibles, quelque chose d'éternel et quelque chose de transitoire — d'absolu et de particulier." — Charles Baudelaire
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