Émile Nelligan

Francophone Poet from Montréal, Québec. Born December 24, 1879, Montréal, Died November 18, 1941, Montréal.

He is considered the first important poet from Quebec and the Canadian equivalent to Arthur Rimbaud, given that he wrote most of his poetry before turning 20 and was also part of the symbolist movement. Like Rimbaud, his writing career was short, as he started losing his mind and spent his last years in an insane asylum. Many of his poems have been set to music, and his life story was turned into a musical play.