Eluard was born to a lower-middle-class family in Saint Denis, Paris. His father was a bookkeeper, his mother, helped out with the household income by making dresses. At the age of 16 Paul was sent to a Swiss sanatorium for tuberculosis, during this time he became highly interested in poetry. Upon his return to France he joined the army and was injured from exposure to toxic gas. After his war experience, year 1917, he released what is considered to be his first noteworthy poetry volume.