Frédéric Rimbaud
Frédéric Rimbaud (1814–1878) was a French army officer in the 47th Infantry Regiment. He served in the conquest of Algeria, the Crimean War, and the Sardinian Campaign. He is best known as the father of poet Arthur Rimbaud, though they were not close.
He was born in Dole, Jura, to Didier Rimbaud, a tailor and merchant, and Catherine Taillandier. Not much is known about his early life. He rose from the ranks to become a captain and spent much of his service abroad.
From 1844 to 1850 he fought in Algeria, and on 9 April 1854 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. He was described as good-tempered, easy-going and generous. He had literary ambitions, wrote guides for learning Arabic, some poetry, and even translated the Quran into French. Arthur Rimbaud would later refer to his father’s work for his own Arabic studies.
In October 1852 he moved to Mézières, where he met Marie Catherine Vitalie Cuif. They married on 8 February 1853 and had five children. The marriage lasted seven years, but he spent most of the time away on military duties and was not home for the births or baptisms.
After Isabelle’s birth in 1860, he never returned to the family home. Vitalie called herself Widow Rimbaud. Frédéric left the army in 1864 and retired to Dijon, where he died in 1878.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:10 (CET).