Born and died, unknown and poor (5)
I believe the answer is:
needy
'poor' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'born and died unknown' is the wordplay.
'born' becomes 'nee' ('nee' is 'born' in French).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'unknown' becomes 'y' (algebra).
'nee'+'d'+'y'='NEEDY'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for needy that I've seen before include "Poor; wanting affection" , "Deprived" , "lacking resources" , "Necessitous" , "Impecunious" .)