The Opium Gates

Mayer André Marcel Schwob, born in France on August 23, 1867, was a prominent symbolist writer known for his dark, bizarre storytelling. Educated at prestigious institutions, Schwob quickly became a multilingual journalist and published six influential short story collections in the 1890s. Despite battling chronic illness and enduring multiple surgeries, he continued to travel and write up until his death from pneumonia on February 26, 1905, at the age of 37. His extensive body of work has made him a notable precursor of Surrealism.