Who is the mysterious donor of the three Rimbaud manuscripts in Charleville-Mézières?

“A generous anonymous patron has just let us know that he was going to offer the City two handwritten letters from Arthur Rimbaud as well as a poem by Rimbaud by Paul Verlaine,” announced Mayor Boris Ravignon on his Twitter account. Acquired at an auction on December 8, 2023 for a sum of 280,000 euros, the documents were given to the museum on Friday February 16 during a private evening, in the presence of the donor.

Also read: A mysterious donor offers two letters and a poem by Rimbaud to the town of Charleville-Mézières

The organizer of the December 8 sale, Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, told France Bleu that the mysterious donor has “a voice that is too well known to appear on the radio without being identified.” This “famous anonymous person” had purchased the two letters and the poem by telephone. This is Pascal Urano, a local entrepreneur and former president of the CS Sedan Ardennes football club. “We have the feeling that he acquired these works to offer them to us,” confided Boris Ravignon.

Questioned by 20 minutes, the benefactor explains this extremely rare donation: “It is a vector of global communication for our territory. It is unifying and fashionable. I have no particular link with Rimbaud's work, but we try to promote our territory, broaden our vision. For twenty-five years, I have been trying to convince everyone that if we had a Rimbaud foundation, it would be good,” declares Pascal Urano before adding: “It seemed absolutely logical to me to make a donation to the museum and therefore to the city which owns the museum. we need to revitalize our territories and it is very important that local stakeholders take charge.”

In order for the public to benefit from this exceptional event, entry to the Rimbaud museum in Charleville-Mézières was exceptionally free on the weekend of February 17 and 18. In addition to the three manuscripts, a final one, acquired this time by the city during the December sale, joined the museum collection. “It’s a great chance to be part of Arthur Rimbaud’s hometown. We have a long-standing commitment to making our poetry known,” declared Boris Ravignon in January.