10 Facts about Antonin Artaud

Saturday, March 7th 2015. | Arts

Find out the interesting information about the notable theatre director, essayist, poet, actor and playwright from France in Facts about Antonin Artaud. He was born on the fourth of September 1896 in Marseille, France, with the full name Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud. People know him more under the name Antonin Artaud. He passed away on 4th March 1948. Get more facts about Artaud below:

Facts about Antonin Artaud 1: parents

His parents were Euphrasie Nalpas and Antoine-Roi Artaud. They were from Smyrna. Today, it is Izmir. The Greek ancestry that he had affected his works a lot.

Facts about Antonin Artaud 2: the children in the family

Actually there were nine children in the family but only his sister and Antonin survived the infancy. He had meningitis when he was four years old. Therefore, he developed the irritable temperament when he was an adult.

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Facts about Antonin Artaud 3: other health problem

There were several other health conditions that he had such as clinical depression, stammering and neuralgia.

Facts about Antonin Artaud 4: sanatorium stay

To cure and treat their temperamental son, the parents of Antonin decided to have him stay at sanatorium which cost a lot of money. It was not cheat for them. When he was in the sanatorium, he spent his time reading various books by Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud.

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Facts about Antonin Artaud 5: The French army

He was appointed to the French army. But his habit of sleepwalking made him discharge from the army.

Facts about Antonin Artaud 6: moving to Paris

Antonin wanted to become a writer. Thus, he moved to Paris in March 1920. But he realized that he had talent in avant Garde Theater.

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Facts about Antonin Artaud 7: the writing time

Antonin loved to write essays and poetry when worked with the famous director such as Charles Dullin and Georges Pitoeff. Find out Ansel Adams facts here.

Facts about Antonin Artaud 8: La Nouvelle Revue Française

Antonin sent some of his poems in the famous journal La Nouvelle Revue Française when he was 27. But his poems were rejected. However, the editor Jacques Rivière wrote back to make him understand. As a result, the relationship grew between them via letter. The complication of this letter was published as his first major publication. It was entitled Correspondance avec Jacques Rivière.

Facts about Antonin Artaud

Facts about Antonin Artaud 9: the first surrealist film

Artaud made his first scenario for the surrealist film directed by Germaine Dulac. The title was Seashell and the Clergyman released in 1928. Get another artist in Anselm Kiefer facts.

Facts about Antonin Artaud 10: as actor

In Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927), he performed as Jean-Paul Marat. In Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), he played as monk Massieu.