# Charles Baudelaire

## Biography

Charles Baudelaire, born in Paris on April 9, 1821, became a pivotal figure in French literature. His father, a civil servant, died when Baudelaire was young, and his mother’s subsequent marriage to a strict military officer, Jacques Aupick, created a strained relationship. Baudelaire pursued a bohemian lifestyle, quickly spending a significant inheritance. He became known as a dandy and struggled with debt throughout his life.

A poet, essayist, and art critic, Baudelaire’s most celebrated work is the poetry collection Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), published in 1857. This controversial volume explored themes of beauty, decay, urban life, and the human condition, often earning him legal troubles and public outrage. He also pioneered prose poetry with his Petits poèmes en prose (Little Prose Poems) and produced acclaimed translations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works. Baudelaire's innovative style and exploration of modernity profoundly influenced later Symbolist and Modernist movements. He suffered a stroke in 1866 and died in Paris on August 31, 1867, at the age of 46.

## Books

- [The Flowers of Evil](https://samolit.com/books/96715)
- [Les Fleurs du Mal](https://samolit.com/books/96675)
- [The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire: with an Introductory Preface by James Huneker](https://samolit.com/books/96135)