Paul (Louis-Charles-Marie) Claudel was born on 6 August 1868, in Villeneuve-sur-Fère in the Aisne department, where his great uncle was a local priest. His mother, Louise-Athénaïs Cerveaux, was from a noble family descended from the Duke of Orléans in the Picardy region, while his father – a mortgage broker – originated from La Bresse, in the Lorraine region. Claudel had two sisters, Louise and Camille, the latter a famous sculptor and mistress to Rodin – she was interned in 1913 because of mental illness and died in 1943. Henri, an older brother born in 1863, survived only 2 weeks.
Claudel was educated at the lycée Louis-le-Grand after the family moved to Paris in 1882. He then studied at the Ecole de Droit and the Ecole de Sciences Politiques in order to enter a diplomatic
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Citation: Boothroyd, Edward. "Paul Claudel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=910, accessed 22 November 2024.]
