Jules Laforgue

David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews)
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Jules Laforgue, who did not receive the critical appreciation he deserved in France until the mid twentieth century, remained outside the established patterns of French middle-class life for most of his twenty-seven years. The second of eleven children, Laforgue was born in Montevideo in 1860 to young French parents, and moved to France aged six, to Tarbes, the hometown of his father, a teacher. In 1867 his parents returned to Uruguay, leaving Jules and his older brother Emile in the care of their cousin’s family. Following the parents’ return, the reunited family moved to Paris in October 1876, only for Laforgue’s mother to die in childbirth the following April. Several critics have suggested that this prolonged absence and loss of the mother figure played a role in shaping his…

2740 words

Citation: Evans, David Elwyn. "Jules Laforgue". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2591, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2591 Jules Laforgue 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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