Origins & Early Life

Robert Desnos (French: [ʁɔbɛʁ dɛsnos]; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement. Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the Halles market. Desnos attended commercial college, and started work as a clerk. He also worked as an amanuensis for journalist Jean de Bonnefon.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

After that he worked as a literary columnist for the newspaper Paris-soir. The first poems by Desnos to appear in print were published in 1917 in La Tribune des Jeunes (Platform for Youth) and in 1919 in the avant-garde review Le Trait d'union (Hyphen), and also the same year in the Dadaist magazine Littérature. In 1922 he published his first book, a collection of surrealistic aphorisms, with the title Rrose Sélavy (the name adopted as an "alternative persona" by the avant-garde French artist Marcel Duchamp; a pun on "Eros, c'est la vie"). In 1919 he met the poet Benjamin Péret, who introduced him to the Paris Dada group and André Breton, with whom he soon became friends. In 1920, he did his military service which led him to Chaumont and then Morocco.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

While working as a literary...

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