Charles Cros
Charles Cros was a notable French poet and inventor, born on October 1, 1842, in Fabrezan, France. Though his poetry garnered respect during his lifetime, he is often more recognized for his inventive genius and bohemian lifestyle. Self-educated and deeply engaged in the Parisian café culture, Cros frequented salons and entertained audiences with his satirical monologues, which gained popularity among comic actors. His primary poetic work, "Le Coffret de santal," was published in 1873, and he had significant interactions with contemporary poets, including Arthur Rimbaud.
Cros demonstrated remarkable inventive prowess, proposing ideas such as theoretical color photography and the paléophone, which was an early attempt to capture and reproduce sound. Unfortunately, he was often overshadowed by contemporaries like Thomas Edison and Louis Ducos du Hauron, who achieved greater recognition for similar inventions. Throughout his life, Cros faced personal challenges, including tumultuous relationships and struggles with alcoholism. He died in Paris on August 9, 1888, at the age of 45, leaving a legacy as a precursor to the French Symbolist movement and influencing poets such as Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. An anthology of his work was published posthumously in 1944.
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Charles Cros
Inventor
- Born: October 1, 1842
- Birthplace: Fabrezan, France
- Died: August 9, 1888
Biography
Charles Cros is perhaps more famous for his inventive genius and bohemian lifestyle than for his poetry, although his poetry was respected during his lifetime. He was born on October 1, 1842, in Fabrezan, France. Although his father, Antoine Cros, a lecturer and writer, tutored him, Cros was otherwise self-educated, never receiving a formal education except for the lectures he managed to audit. Early on, the boy’s unusual gift for the studies of science and languages (especially Sanskrit) distinguished him.
Cros soon became involved in the bohemian society of Paris, frequenting salons and cafés and reciting his satirical monologues. These humorous pieces became so popular that some of them were incorporated by comic actors into the shows of the Comédie Française. Cros was active in the café society of the Hydropathes, the Zutistes, and the Chat-Noiristes, among others, and began a stormy love affair with Nina de Villard in 1868. In the following year, his first published poetry appeared in The Artist, and in 1871 he met poet Arthur Rimbaud. Cros’s own primary poetic achievement was the publication of Le Coffret de santal (1873).
Cros’s inventive skill was recognized in several fields, but he did not profit from his inventions since he always seemed to be overshadowed by similar discoveries occurring almost simultaneously. For example, in 1869 Cros wrote about the theoretical possibility of color photography, but in the same year Louis Ducos du Hauron published his more influential ideas on the same topic. In April, 1877, Cros submitted a paper to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, demonstrating how the vibration of sound waves could be captured by being engraved into metal; the sound could then be reproduced by running a stylus over the engraved metal. Cros called this invention the paléophone. However, before Cros was able to construct a model of his invention, Thomas Edison independently invented the phonograph and thus received credit for the device. Cros was also interested in the possibilities of telegraphic and interplanetary communication, and he published a book on the latter subject, Études sur les moyens de communication avec les planets (1869).
The nine-year love affair with Villard ended in 1877, and in 1878 Cros married Mary Hjardemaal, a Danish woman with whom he had two children: Guy-Charles (1879-1956), who became a poet and translator from Danish, and Rene (1880-1898). A few years into his marriage, Cros’s problems and personal crises began to intensify. In 1884, Villard died; in the following year, Cros’s alcoholism, always a problem, worsened. His wife fell ill, and financial stress forced Cros to sell his library at public auction. Cros died in Paris on August 9, 1888, at the age of forty-five.
Cros is considered a precursor to the twentieth century French Symbolist movement and possibly an influence upon the better known poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. An anthology of his work, Poèmes et proses, was brought out in 1944.