13 Facts About Aloysius Bertrand

Louis Jacques Napoleon Bertrand, better known by his pen name Aloysius Bertrand, was a French Romantic poet, playwright and journalist.

Aloysius Bertrand is famous for having introduced prose poetry in French literature, and is considered a forerunner of the Symbolist movement.

Aloysius Bertrand's masterpiece is the collection of prose poems Gaspard de la Nuit published posthumously in 1842; three of its poems were adapted to an eponymous piano suite by Maurice Ravel in 1908.

Aloysius Bertrand's first marriage with Marie-Jeanne Remond was born on in Montbard on 23 February 1779 and gave birth to a daughter, Denise, on 9 March 1800 but his wife died three months later.

Louis Aloysius Bertrand studied from 1818 to 1826 at the college royal of Dijon, where he spent most of his life.

Aloysius Bertrand met Sainte-Beuve at the salon of Emile Deschamps and read some of his prose to him.

Aloysius Bertrand got sick in January 1829 and during Spring found a publisher, Sautelet, to publish his poems, but he went bankrupt in August.

Aloysius Bertrand then got interested in the theatre and offered a play to the Vaudeville without success.

Aloysius Bertrand contracted tuberculosis and was admitted to Notre-Dame de la Pitie on 18 September 1838 where he remained until 13 May 1839 before being transferred to l'hopital Saint-Antoine where he stayed until 24 November.

Aloysius Bertrand died there in the morning on 29 April 1841.

In 1925, Aloysius Bertrand Guegan published a new edition from an original manuscript that corrected most of the mistakes.

Aloysius Bertrand became a cult author for the Symbolists, especially for Stephane Mallarme who discovered him at the age of twenty and referenced his work throughout his entire life.

Max Jacob brought attention to Aloysius Bertrand by making him the inventor of prose poetry.