ean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (UK: /ˈræ̃boʊ/, US: /ræmˈboʊ/; French: [aʁtyʁ ʁɛ̃bo] (About this sound listen); 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet who is known for his influence on modern literature and arts, which prefigured surrealism. Born in Charleville-Mézières, 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 from home to Paris amidst the Franco-Prussian War. During his late adolescence and early adulthood he began the bulk of his literary output, then completely stopped writing at the age of 21, after assembling one of his major works, Illuminations.
