Charles Asselineau (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl aslino]; 13 March 1820 – 25 July 1874) was a French writer and art critic. He is also notable as one of the few close friends of the poet Charles Baudelaire. He was born in Paris and died in Châtel-guyon.

Charles Asselineau
Photograph of Asselineau by Nadar, c.1860.
Born(1820-03-13)13 March 1820
Died25 July 1874(1874-07-25) (aged 54)
EducationLycée_Condorcet
Occupation(s)Writer, art critic

Biography

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Asselineau studied in the Lycée Condorcet where he became friends with Nadar. He started medical studies before switching to literary studies.

He met and became a close friend of Baudelaire in 1845. A year after Baudelaire's death, Asselineau together with Banville published a 3rd edition of Les fleurs du mal. In 1869, he writes the first biography of Baudelaire: Charles Baudelaire, sa vie et son œuvre.

Further reading

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  • Auguste Auzas, Lettres de Madame Veuve Aupick à Charles Asselineau, vol. XCIX, Mercure de France, 16 September 1912, pp. 225-257
  • Auguste Poulet-Malassis, Lettres à Charles Asselineau (1854-1873) (definitive edition, edited and annotated by Christophe Carrère), Paris, Honoré Champion, coll. "Bibliothèque des correspondances", 2013
  • Nadar. Correspondance. 1820-1851. Tome 1 (ed. André Rouillé). Éditions Jacqueline Chambon, 1998
  • Baudelaire. Œuvres complètes. Tomes 1 et 2. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. Gallimard, 1976
  • Catherine Delons, L'Idée si douce d'une mère, Charles Baudelaire et Caroline Aupick, Les Belles Lettres, 2011
  • Catherine Delons, Narcisse Ancelle, persécuteur ou protecteur de Baudelaire, Du Lérot, 2002
  • Claude Pichois and Jean-Paul Avice, Dictionnaire Baudelaire, Du Lérot, 2002
  • Jacques Crépet and Claude Pichois, Baudelaire et Asselineau, textes recueillis et commentés, Nizet, 1953