The next year, on 20 October 1854, Jean Nicolas Arthur ('Arthur') was born. On 8 February 1853, Captain Rimbaud and Vitalie Cuif married their first-born, Jean Nicolas Frédéric ('Frédéric'), arrived nine months later on 2 November. Arthur Rimbaud's private name for her was 'Mouth of Darkness' ( bouche d'ombre). When Charles Houin, an early biographer, interviewed her, he found her 'withdrawn, stubborn and taciturn'. completely lacking in a sense of humour'. Her personality was the 'exact opposite' of Captain Rimbaud's she was reportedly narrowminded, 'stingy and. She came from a 'solidly established Ardennais family', but one with its share of bohemians two of her brothers were alcoholics.

In October 1852, Captain Rimbaud, then aged 38, was transferred to Mézières where he met Vitalie Cuif, 11 years his junior, while on a Sunday stroll. Captain Rimbaud was described as 'good-tempered, easy-going and generous,' with the long moustache and goatee of a Chasseur officer. He participated in the conquest of Algeria from 1844 to 1850, and in 1854 was awarded the Legion of Honor 'by Imperial decree'. Rimbaud's father, a Burgundian of Provençal heritage, was an infantry captain who had risen from the ranks he had spent much of his army career abroad. He was the second child of Frédéric Rimbaud (7 October 1814 – 16 November 1878) and Marie Catherine Vitalie Rimbaud (née Cuif 10 March 1825 – 16 November 1907). Life Family and childhood (1854–1861) Īrthur Rimbaud was born in the provincial town of Charleville (now part of Charleville-Mézières) in the Ardennes department in northeastern France. As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to symbolism and, among other works, for A Season in Hell, a precursor to modernist literature. After his retirement as a writer, he traveled extensively on three continents as a merchant and explorer until his death from cancer just after his thirty-seventh birthday. Rimbaud was a libertine and a restless soul, having engaged in a hectic, sometimes violent romantic relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly two years. Rimbaud completely stopped writing literature at age 20 after assembling his last major work, Illuminations. During his late adolescence and early adulthood, he produced the bulk of his literary output. Born in Charleville, he started writing at a very young age and excelled as a student, but abandoned his formal education in his teenage years to run away to Paris amidst the Franco-Prussian War.

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud ( UK: / ˈ r æ̃ b oʊ/, US: / r æ m ˈ b oʊ/, French: ⓘ 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Marie Catherine Vitalie Rimbaud (mother).

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