Charles Baudelaire

Barbara Wright (Trinity College Dublin)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Charles Baudelaire was born in Paris on 9 April 1821 to François Baudelaire, a sixty-three-year old widower, and Caroline Baudelaire (née Dufaÿs), aged twenty-eight. His father, a former priest and a talented lover of art, died in 1827. Baudelaire’s widowed mother married a military man, Jacques Aupick, in 1828. Baudelaire, his mother and stepfather spent four years in Lyons, because of Aupick’s posting, but only one person really counted in the life of Baudelaire – his mother. In January 1836, the family moved to Paris. Later that year, Baudelaire was expelled from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and switched to the Lycée Saint-Louis. At this time, he went through money like water. His colossal debts led General Aupick to enforce a journey of one year by sea to Calcutta, with ports…

3007 words

Citation: Wright, Barbara. "Charles Baudelaire". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 July 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=294, accessed 19 March 2024.]

294 Charles Baudelaire 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.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.