Vitalie Rimbaud (1858-1875)

Vitalie Rimbaud – the poet's sister – in December 1873. Photographer: Vassogne, Charleville

Arthur Rimbaud – his head shaved in mourning - in mid-December 1875 by Ernest Delahaye.

Vitalie Rimbaud - born Jeanne Rosalie Vitalie Rimbaud on 15 June 1858 in Charleville et died 18 December 1875 in the same town – was the eldest of the two sisters of Arthur Rimbaud.

Biography

Vitalie was the daughter of Marie Catherine Vitalie Cuif and Frédéric Rimbaud. The latter left the marital home in 1860, leaving his wife with four young children. Frédéric was seven, Arthur six, Vitalie two and Isabelle eight months.

Vitalie grew up under the thumb of an authoritarian and conservative mother who provided a strict education based on Christian morality. In contrast to her brothers, Frédéric and Arthur, who attended the Institut Rossat, a private secular school with an excellent reputation, Vitalie boarded with the nuns of the Sépuchrine Convent, in the Place du Sépulcre (nowadays the Place Jacques Félix). "At the age of 15, Vitalie Rimbaud had the light skin, dark chestnut hair, and blue eyes of her brother Arthur".^[1]

Vitalie died on 18 December 1875, at the age of 17, from tubercular synovitis.^[2] Arthur Rimbaud attended her funeral with his head shaved,^[3] a sign of mourning.^[4]

She kept a private diary^[5] and wrote poetry.^[6] Her writings express fragility but do not reflect the permanent revolt that characterises those of her brother Arthur.^[7]

Publications

• Journal de Vitalie, published by the "Musée-Bibliothèque Arthur Rimbaud", Charleville-Mézières.

References

Notes

1. Delahaye 2007 French: Vitalie Rimbaud vers l’âge de quinze ans avait la peau claire, les cheveux châtains foncés et les yeux bleus de son frère Arthur
2. French: Tuberculose des articulations
3. Baronian 2014.
4. Jeancolas 2004, p. 171.
5. French: Journal intime
6. Poème de Vitalie Rimbaud (in French), Lequichotte.wordpress.com
7. Jeancolas 2004, p. 170  French: Son écriture exprime une fragilité, mais ne contient pas cette révolte permanente qui caractérise celle de son frère Arthur

Sources

• This article began as a translation of its French equivalent.
• Baronian, Jean-Baptiste (2014), "Rimbaud, Vitalie (1858-1875)", Dictionnaire Rimbaud, Bouquins (in French), Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont, ISBN 978-2221124420
• Delahaye, Ernest (2007) [1923], Rimbaud - l’Artiste et l’être moral, Littérature (in French), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, ISBN 978-2-204-08344-7.
• Jeancolas, Claude (2004), Vitalie Rimbaud: Pour l'amour d'un fils (in French), Paris: Flammarion, ISBN 978-2080682086.

External links