(Paris, 1821-1867) He is among the most influential poets of the 19th century, and probably also of the entire history of world literature. Expelled from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand despite obtaining the title of Superior Bachelor, in 1940 he enrolled in the faculty of law. He then began to frequent the Latin Quarter, where he met Gérard de Nerval, Sainte-Beuve, and Balzac, plunging uncontrollably into the world of smoke, opium, and prostitution of the Parisian bohemia. Due to his impious behavior, his family sent him to the South Seas. Upon his return, however, Baudelaire would translate the works of Edgar Allan Poe into French and carry out his most famous works: from the scandalous poetry collection The Flowers of Evil (1857) to the texts of Artificial Paradises (1960) and the posthumous Paris Spleen (1869). Harshly criticized and vilified in life for the scandalous nature of his work and behavior, Baudelaire died syphilitic and impoverished, unaware of the invaluable legacy he had bequeathed to posterity. Champion of symbolism, standard-bearer of romanticism, and precursor of decadentism, his body lies buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery.
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