Baudelaire’s suicide letter auctions for over $200,000

30 June 1845, a French poet Charles Baudelaire attempted suicide, at the age of 24 years old. The same day he created a letter for his lover Jeanne Duval, explaining his love and the reason for his suicide. He described his feelings towards waking up and falling asleep each day, portraying that life was too stressful due to his money problems. He then proceeded to stab himself in the chest, despite this he survived with minor injuries.

Baudelaire died at 46 years old from Syphilis while creating a volume about his reputation, Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) in 1867.

Despite his depression, he influenced many other French poets to create poetry demonstrating their emotions. Today, a French auction website, Osenat announced that the letter to his lover has been auctioned for 979,161.17 AED, which is three times the expected price.