Arthur Rimbaud vs Dmitri Shostakovich
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Arthur Rimbaud | Dmitri Shostakovich | |
| Field | Literature | Music |
| Sub-field | Poet | Composer |
| Born | 1854 | 1906 |
| Died | 1891 | 1975 |
| Country of birth | France | Russia |
| Star sign | Libra | Libra |
Who they are
Arthur Rimbaud
First major poem at age 15 · Quit writing forever at 20 Author of A Season in Hell & Illuminations · Entire output completed before age 21 Born October 20, 1854 · Charleville, France · Died November 10, 1891
Full biography of Arthur Rimbaud →
Dmitri Shostakovich
In January 1936, Josef Stalin attended a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at the Bolshoi Theatre and left before the final act. Two days later, Pravda published an unsigned editorial — almost certainly authorized at the highest level — titled "Muddle Instead of Music." The article attacked the opera as "formalist" and "bourgeois," its dissonances described as deliberate assaults on Soviet socialist culture. Shostakovich was twenty-nine years old, the most celebrated composer in the Soviet Union, and now suddenly in danger. He had a new symphony nearly finished —…
Full biography of Dmitri Shostakovich →
What they share
- Both Libra.
Where they part
- Different fields: Literature for Arthur Rimbaud, Music for Dmitri Shostakovich.
- Born in different countries: France and Russia.
- 52 years separate their births (1854 and 1906).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Arthur Rimbaud or Dmitri Shostakovich?
- Arthur Rimbaud. Arthur Rimbaud was born in 1854, Dmitri Shostakovich in 1906.
- What field is each of them in?
- Arthur Rimbaud is filed under Literature (Poet). Dmitri Shostakovich is filed under Music (Composer).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.