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…
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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 23 November 2024.]
