Charles Baudelaire

Born in Paris on April 9, 1821, Charles Baudelaire became one of France’s most influential poets, as well as an essayist, art critic, and translator. He is best known for Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), the 1857 collection that made his name and shocked many of his contemporaries with its frank treatment of desire, death, beauty, and urban life.

Baudelaire’s writing brought together the richness of Romantic poetry with a sharper, more modern sensibility. He wrote about the crowded streets of Paris, the pull of pleasure and despair, and the strange beauty he found in everyday life. He also played a major role in introducing Edgar Allan Poe to French readers through his translations, a project that deeply shaped his own literary voice.

Though his life was marked by financial trouble, illness, and controversy, Baudelaire’s reputation only grew after his death in Paris on August 31, 1867. Today he is widely seen as a crucial bridge between Romanticism and Symbolism, and as a poet whose work opened the door to much of modern literature.