André Breton (1896–1966) was one of the founders of Surrealism (with Louis Aragon, Robert Desnos and Paul Eluard), its leading theoretician, and its oft-contested leader. He was a poet (
Clair de terre, 1923 ;
Le Revolver à cheveux blancs, 1932), a prosewriter (
Nadja, 1928 ;
Les Vases communicants,1932,
L’Amour fou, 1937), an editor (
La Révolution surréaliste, 1924-29 ;
Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution, 1931-33), an exhibition curator, and an art critic.
Breton was born on 18 February 1896 in Tinchebray, France. He went to the Lycée Chaptal in Paris, where he wrote his first poems, influenced by Symbolism. He studied medicine and during World War I he worked as a medical auxiliary at the Hôpital La Pitié in Paris, where he discovered Freudian techniques. In the
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Citation: Adamowicz, Elza. "André Breton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=557, accessed 24 November 2024.]
