Origins & Early Life

Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (French: [sɑ̃dʁaʁ]), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement. He was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, rue de la Paix 27, into a bourgeois francophone family, to a Swiss father and a Scottish mother. They sent young Frédéric to a German boarding school, but he ran away.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

At the Realschule in Basel in 1902 he met his lifelong friend the sculptor August Suter. Next they enrolled him in a school in Neuchâtel, but he had little enthusiasm for his studies. Finally, in 1904, he left school due to poor performance and began an apprenticeship with a Swiss watchmaker in Russia. While living in St. Petersburg, he began to write, thanks to the encouragement of R.R., a librarian at the National Library of Russia.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

There he wrote the poem, "The Legend of Novgorode" (La Légende de Novgorode), which R.R. translated into Russian. Supposedly fourteen copies were made, but Cendrars claimed to have no copies of it, and none could be located during...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alexander Borodin — Contemporary (Died in 1887) (1887): Russian Romantic composer, chemist, and physician known for 'Prince Igor' and symphonies.
• Arthur Rubinstein — Contemporary (Born in 1887) (1887): Master Polish and American pianist, celebrated for his interpretations of Chopin and classical repertoire.
• August Macke — Contemporary (Born in 1887) (1887): German Expressionist painter, key member of Der Blaue Reiter.
• Aaron Sorkin — Contemporary (Born in 1961) (1961): Master of fast-paced dialogue, known for 'walk and talk' storytelling.
• Andrew Forrest — Contemporary (Born in 1961) (1961): Pioneering Australian mining magnate and philanthropist, founder of Fortescue.
• Andy Lau — Contemporary (Born in 1961) (1961): Iconic Hong Kong actor, singer, and producer with a four-decade global career.
• A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada — Shared historical date (09-01 · Born) (1896): Pioneering global spread of Krishna consciousness teachings and the Hare Krishna mantra.
• Abraham Isaac Kook — Shared historical date (09-01 · Died) (1935): Pioneering Orthodox Rabbi and Father of Religious Zionism.
• Bernard Mandeville — Shared historical date (01-21 · Died) (1733): Anglo-Dutch philosopher, satirist, and physician known for 'The Fable of the Bees'.
• Billy Ocean — Shared historical date (01-21 · Born) (1950): Trinidadian-British R&B singer known for international hits from the 1970s to 1980s.
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