Maurice Rollinat

His father represented Indre in the National Assembly of 1848, and was a friend of George Sand, whose influence is very marked in young Rollinat's first volume, Dans les brandes (1877), and to whom it was dedicated.

Several evenings a week, Rollinat would appear at the cabaret Le Chat Noir, and there he would perform his poems with piano accompaniment.

His gaunt and pale appearance made his portrait a favourite subject for a number of painters, and the startling subjects of his verses brought him short fame during his lifetime; at the height of his popularity he drew a number of celebrities to the cabaret to see him perform; among them were Leconte de Lisle and Oscar Wilde.

In September 1883, Maurice Rollinat left Paris with Cécile Pouettre and settled in Fresselines in Creuse, where they lived for twenty years.

Maurice Rollinat, probably suffering from colorectal cancer, was transported to the clinic of Doctor Moreau in Ivry near Paris, where he died on October 26, 1903, at the age of 56.