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Birth and family
Paul Gauguin was born in Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris. His father, Clovis Gauguin, was a journalist and his mother, Aline Marie Chazal, was of Spanish noble blood. -
Paul Gauguin spends his childhood in Peru
The family was obliged to leave France when Emperor Napoleon took over the government in 1849. The family moved to Lima, Peru, but Clovis died of a heart attack mid-voyage. Paul spent the next six years of his childhood in Peru. In 1855, Aline and her children returned to France and the year of 1861 got back to Paris.